Gibbny is a name whose history is connected to the ancient
Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name is derived from when the Gibbny family once lived in the village of Gedney in the county of
Lincolnshire. The place-name is derived from the Old English
Gyddan-ea, which literally means
Gydda's island. Another source notes the place name probably means "island or well-watered land of a man called Gaeda or Gydda," from the Old English
personal name.
[1]CITATION[CLOSE]
Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)Early Origins of the Gibbny family
The surname Gibbny was first found in
Lincolnshire at Gedney, a village and civil parish in the South Holland district that dates back to the
Domesday Book of 1086 where it was listed as Gadenai.
[2]CITATION[CLOSE]
Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8) "The church [of Gedney] is a beautiful structure, supposed to have been built by the abbots of Crowland, who had large possessions in the parish; it contains 53 windows, those of the north aisle having considerable remains of painted glass." [3]CITATION[CLOSE]
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Today the parish includes the hamlets of Gedney Drove End, Gedney Dyke, Gedney Dawsmere, and Gedney Marsh.
One of the first records of the family was found in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273, where Hervey de Gedeney was listed in Lincolnshire. [4]CITATION[CLOSE]
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Early History of the Gibbny family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Gibbny research.
Another 176 words (13 lines of text) covering the years 1640, 1698 and are included under the topic Early Gibbny History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Gibbny Spelling Variations
Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore,
spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Gibbny family name include Gidney, Gibney, Gedney, Gibbney and others.
Early Notables of the Gibbny family (pre 1700)
Another 29 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Gibbny Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Migration of the Gibbny family to Ireland
Some of the Gibbny family moved to
Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 91 words (6 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Migration of the Gibbny family to the New World and Oceana
For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for
Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Gibbny surname or a spelling variation of the name include: Martha Gibeney who settled in Charleston in 1772; Bridget Gibney settled in New York State in 1845 with her husband; James, Lawrence, Michael, Thomas, and William Gibney all arrived in Philadelphia between 1840 and 1860.