The ancestry of the name Digbey dates from the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. It comes from when the family lived at a local where someone lived by a dike or ditch.
The family are "from Digby, a town in the county of Lincoln, England, so named from the Danish Dige, a dike, ditch, or trench, and by, a town—the town by the dike." [1]
Of particular note today is Coleshill, Warwickshire, the home to Sir Robert Digby (1574-1618.) In 2021, his estate named Coleshill Manor is an archaeological site undertaken by Wessex Archaeology for LM which has revealed "one of the best preserved late 16th century gardens ever discovered in this country." (HS2.org)
The surname Digbey was first found in Lincolnshire where the family can be "traced nearly to the Conquest, and supposed to be of Saxon origin." [2] The name is actually derived from "Digby, in Lincolnshire where Aelmar, the first recorded ancestor of the Digbys, held lands in 1086." [2]
This area continued for two centuries as a stronghold of the family as seen in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 which listed Alice de Digpeby as holding lands there at that time. [3]
"The noble family are of great antiquity in co. Warwick." [4] So as to underscore this point, we found Simon Digby listed in the Feet of Fines for Warwickshire in 1497. [5]
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Digbey research. Another 88 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1580, 1653, 1578, 1606, 1605, 1603, 1665, 1580, 1653, 1580, 1658, 1612, 1677, 1657, 1686, 1685, 1686, 1618, 1664, 1640, 1642, 1720, 1679, 1691, 1691 and 1720 are included under the topic Early Digbey History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Spelling variations in names were a common occurrence before English spelling was standardized a few hundred years ago. In the Middle Ages, even the literate spelled their names differently as the English language incorporated elements of French, Latin, and other European languages. Many variations of the name Digbey have been found, including Digby, Digbie and others.
Notables of the family at this time include Sir Everard Digby (1578-1606), conspirator involved in the abortive 1605 Gunpowder Plot to assassinate King James I of England and VI of Scotland and Members of the Parliament of England. He was found guilty and unremorseful, and executed as a traitor. Despite his father's actions, his son Sir Kenelm Digby (1603-1665), became an English courtier and diplomat. He was also a highly reputed natural philosopher, and known as a leading Roman Catholic intellectual and Blackloist.
Other notables include: John Digby...
Another 87 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Digbey Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Migration of the Digbey family to IrelandSome of the Digbey family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 39 words (3 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Families began migrating abroad in enormous numbers because of the political and religious discontent in England. Often faced with persecution and starvation in England, the possibilities of the New World attracted many English people. Although the ocean trips took many lives, those who did get to North America were instrumental in building the necessary groundwork for what would become for new powerful nations. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America bore the name Digbey, or a variant listed above: Charles Digby who settled in Montserrat in 1663; Edward Digby was one of the original settlers in Maine in 1607; John Digby settled in Jamaica in 1661.
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