Surname Saturday: Filbee

28 July 2012, at 10:01 pm

A reader’s question prompted me to revisit my problematic Filbee family, whose fondness for the given name Hugh makes researching this line difficult.

The Filbee surname is found in my maternal grandfather’s part of the family tree. Alice Filbee, and generations of Filbees before her, lived and died in Lewknor, Oxfordshire. Alice (1748–1819) was my 5th great grandmother. She married William Quartermaine in Lewknor on Christmas Eve 1768. Their grandson was Thomas Smith, whom I’ve written about here.

In researching this surname over the years, I’ve come across many variations, including: Fylbye, Filby, Filbie, Fillby, Felby, Philby, Philbey. Filbee families were scattered all around Oxfordshire in the 17th-19th centuries, but my particularly confusing branch lived in Lewknor. From the parish register transcripts, it’s clear that, at any given time, there were two or more Filbee men living in the village, but I’m most interested in those named Hugh. There was a plethora of them. Here’s a chronology of Lewknor baptisms, marriages, and burials related to men named Hugh Filbee:

These St. Margaret’s register entries are extracted from the transcripts published by the Oxfordshire Family History Society which are available on CD–ROM through their website.

1674	Dec 22	Bap	Filbee Anne d Hugh & Anne	This may be the Hugh Fillby & Anne Burnham, of Tettsworth who married by license in nearby Thame 2 Dec 1673 (then left Thame)
1676	Dec 16	Bap	Filbee Hugh s Hugh & Anne
1675	Dec 4	Bap	Filbee Francis s Hugh & Anne
1682	Jun 15	Bap	Filbee Mary d Hugh 7 Anne
1686	Aug 9	Bap	Filbee Richard s Hugh & Anne
1688	Jul 28	Bur	FIlbee Ann w Hugh
1708	May 20	Mar	Filbee Hugh Chapman Ales Adwell	Adwell was nearby. This couple baptized their first child, son Hugh, at Adwell on 15 March 1708/9, and buried him there a week later.
1712	Apr 17	Bap	Filbee Mary d Hugh & Ales
1714	Aug 3	Bap	Filbee Alice d Hugh & Alice
1717	Apr 13	Bap	Filbee Elizabeth d Hugh & Alis
1719/20	Jan 15	Bap	Filbee Jane d Hugh & Ales
1719/20	Mar 12	Bur	Filbee Alis d Hugh & Alis
1722	Apr 27	Bap	Filbee Hugh s Hugh & Alice
1724	Feb 25	Bap	Filbee Alice d Hugh & Alice
1729	Oct 7	Bap	Filbee Judith d Hugh & Alice
1742	Dec 13	Bur	Filbee Hugh
1744/5	Mar 14	Bur	Filbee Alice
1748	Jun 29	Bap	Filbee Alice d Hugh & Anna–Maria	Hugh Filby and Anna Maria Waklin, both of Lewknor, were married in nearby Bix, Oxon, on 28 Jan 1747/8; 5 mo. before Alice’s bap.
1749	Sep 17	Bap	Filbee Hugh s Hugh & Anna–Maria
1751	Sep 17	Bap	Filbee Mary d Hugh & Anna–Maria
1753	Jul 15	Bap	Filbee Judith d Hugh & Anna–Maria
1755	Jun 1	Bap	Filbee John s Hugh & Anna–Maria
1757	Dec 24	Bur	Filbee Naria [sic] w Hugh the younger
1759	Feb 25	Bap	Filbee Ann d Hugh & Eve
1761	Nov 15	Bap	Filbee Jane baseborn d Hugh, and Eve Waklen
1764	Apr 9	Bap	Filbee James baseborn s Hugh and Eve Waklen
1766	Jun 29	Bap	Filbee Richard baseborn s Hugh, and Eve Waklen
1767	Jan 14	Bur	FIlbee Hugh	Probably Alice’s widow
1769	Jan 3	Bap	Filbee Anna Maria basborn d Hugh and Eve Waklen
1769	Apr 17	Mar	Filbee Hugh Slaughter Alice botp	Wm Quartermaine Wit
1771	Aug 18	Bap	Filbee Hugh s Hugh & Alice
1772	May 1	Bur	Filbee Hugh
1776	Jun 16	Bap	Filbee John and Elizabeth twin ch Hugh & Alice
1779	Jan 17	Bap	Filbee Thomas s Hugh & Alice
1782	Mar 3	Bap	Filbee John s Hugh & Alice
1819	Dec 29	Bur	Waklin Eve 92
1823	May 31	Bur	Filbee Hugh 74	Birth abt 1749

This week, I received copies of probate records from the Oxfordshire Records Office, which shed some light on how the Hughs fit together. I’ll be posting about those later in the week. See more here.

(Surname Saturday is a daily blogging prompt hosted by Geneabloggers)