Show ContentsBisbee History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

It was in the Scottish/English Borderlands that the Strathclyde-Briton people first used the ancient name Bisbee. It was a name for someone who lived in East Renfrewshire at Busby, a village "partly in the parish of East Kilbride, Middle ward of the county of Lanark." [1] Alternatively the name could have been derived from Great Busby in Yorkshire which dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086 and was listed as Buschebi. [2] In either case, this place name is most likely derived from the Norman buki, meaning "bush" or "shrub."

Early Origins of the Bisbee family

The surname Bisbee was first found in Renfrewshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Rinn Friù), a historic county of Scotland, today encompassing the Council Areas of Renfrew, East Renfrewshire, and Iverclyde, in the Strathclyde region of southwestern Scotland. The name is derived from "the lands of Busby or Busbie in the parish of Carmunnock, Renfrewshire.

In 1330, the office of notary was conferred on David de Busby of the diocese of Glasgow. " [3] Further to the south in England, the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 list: Ricardus de Busby, and Adam de Buskeby. [4]

"During the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries the Busbys of Radford and Gagingwell were well - to - do Enstone yeomen, who frequently filled the office of churchwarden and other places of trust. William Busby was one of the trustees for Lady Le Strange of Middleton in the reign of Henry VI.. William Busby, gent., was an assistant - burgess of Banbury in 1718, in which town the name still occurs. Busby is the name of a parish in the North Riding of Yorkshire." [5]

Early History of the Bisbee family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bisbee research. Another 132 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1408, 1411, 1488, 1491, 1526, 1606, 1635, 1644, 1648, 1695, 1755, 1769, 1786 and 1799 are included under the topic Early Bisbee History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bisbee Spelling Variations

Scribes in Medieval Scotland spelled names by sound rather than any set of rules, so an enormous number of spelling variations exist in names of that era. Bisbee has been spelled Busby, Busbe, Busbie and others.

Early Notables of the Bisbee family

Notable amongst the family at this time was The Rev. Dr. Richard Busby (1606-1695), an English clergyman, and headmaster of Westminster School, buried in Westminster Abbey.Nathaniel Bisby or Bisbie (1635-1695), was an English divine, son of the Rev. John Bisbie, of Tipton, Staffordshire, who was ejected from a rebend in Lichfield Cathedral about 1644. At the Restoration he was resented to the rectory of Long Melford, Sudbury, Suffolk. He died 14 May 1695, and was buried at Long Melford. [6]Thomas Busby was born in Westminster, 1755...
Another 86 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Bisbee Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bisbee Ranking

In the United States, the name Bisbee is the 14,980th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. [7]


United States Bisbee migration to the United States +

The number of Strathclyde Clan families sailing for North America increased steadily as the persecution continued. In the colonies, they could find not only freedom from the iron hand of the English government, but land to settle on. The American War of Independence allowed many of these settlers to prove their independence, while some chose to go to Canada as United Empire Loyalists. Scots played essential roles in the forging of both great nations. Among them:

Bisbee Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • Thomas Bisbee, who landed in Massachusetts in 1634 [8]

Contemporary Notables of the name Bisbee (post 1700) +

  • John Bisbee (b. 1965), American sculptor
  • Horatio Bisbee Jr. (1839-1916), American politician, U.S. Representative from Florida
  • Eliza Bisbee Duffey, American feminist and writer of the 19th century


  1. Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
  2. Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
  3. Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
  4. Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
  5. Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
  6. Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
  7. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  8. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)


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