In ancient Scotland, Bysby was a Strathclyde-Briton 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."
The surname Bysby 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, the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 list: Ricardus de Busby, and Adam de Buskeby. [4]
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bysby research. Another 131 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1408, 1411, 1488, 1491, 1526, 1648, 1606, 1695, 1635, 1695, 1644 and 1695 are included under the topic Early Bysby History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Prior to the first dictionaries, scribes spelled words according to sound. This, and the fact that Scottish names were repeatedly translated from Gaelic to English and back, contributed to the enormous number of spelling variations in Scottish names. Bysby has been spelled Busby, Busbe, Busbie and others.
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...
Another 40 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Bysby Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
In such difficult times, the difficulties of raising the money to cross the Atlantic to North America did not seem so large compared to the problems of keeping a family together in Scotland. It was a journey well worth the cost, since it was rewarded with land and freedom the Scots could not find at home. The American War of Independence solidified that freedom, and many of those settlers went on to play important parts in the forging of a great nation. Among them: Bridget Busby who settled in Boston Massachusetts in 1637; Anne Busby settled in Virginia in 1635; John Busby settled in Delaware in 1682; John Busby settled in Boston in 1637.