For visitors to this site interested in the evolving Duggleby Family Tree, starting around the time of the Domesday book (1086), please see the special page by clicking here where you will find a copy of the latest update to the tree.
I have also provided some information about examples of the very old documents used to produce the family tree. If you are interested in these please take a look at my blog entries by clicking here, here and here.
Duggleby, in addition to being a rather unusual family name is also the name of a village in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was mentioned in the Domesday Book as ‘Difgelibi‘ when detailing the lands and holding of Beringer of Cosney. The Domesday Book was a land survey and census from 1086. It was commissioned by William the Conqueror to assess the extent of the land and resources owned in England to determine what taxes he could raise.
The history of Duggleby can physically be traced back to about 3000 BC because it is the location of Duggleby Howe, one of the largest Round Barrows in Britain. The Barrow or burial mound is presumed to date from the late Neolithic period. It is 37 metres in diameter and aerial photographs show it is surrounded by a circular enclosure, 370 metres in diameter. There are two concentric bronze-age ditches one inside and one outside this enclosure. The origins of the Duggleby Howe are steeped in mystery. Its location is close to the source of the Gypsey Race, a ‘magical’ stream which rises through a series of springs and flows intermittently. This may well have influenced our ancestors’ decision to build Duggleby Howe. Folklore predicts that when the Gypsey race flows bad fortune is likely. Apparently it flowed in the year before the great plague of 1664!
A series of excavations were performed on the mound in the late 19th century revealing some of its secrets. It would appear that Duggleby Howe was used as a cemetery for a long period of time since the Late Neolithic. Some of the burials appear to have been of important people like chieftains who had flint weapons and ceramic articles buried alongside their bodies as well as tools and artefacts made from from flint, antlers, bones, boar tusk and beaver tooth. Other burials were cremations and the lack of any surrounding vessel or enclosure indicated they may well have been sacrificial offerings, possibly accompanying the burial of local chieftains. The broken bones of the ox, roebuck, red deer, fox, goat, and pig found at the site indicate the burials involved big ceremonial feasts. Interestingly among these were also human bones which had been broken and cooked. It would appear that at least some of the ancient English folk were cannibals (I have included a link for photos and more information about Duggleby Howe in the links section on the right hand side of the archives page).
Moving swiftly on from cannibals to my own ‘Duggleby’ history – it has been possible to trace my ancestors back to just after the time when the village of Duggleby was mentioned in the Domesday Book. The most notable early figure was Sir Henry Duggleby (born 1145). To give this some historical perspective this was around the time of the reign of King Richard 1 of England (Richard the Lion Heart, 1157-1199) and the third crusade. Sir Henry Duggleby was my GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT GRANDFATHER (23 ‘greats’). A major acknowledgement is due here to Ellen Reid for her painstaking work and dedication in uncovering much of the documentary basis for this trail.
Clearly some of the earlier dates are approximations. You will also see the variations in spellings of the name as it was registered in the documents over the centuries: it is not just today that people struggle to spell the name Duggleby correctly. A lot of the early information came from Last Will and Testaments. All except the last three generations lived either in Duggleby or villages nearby. The lineage from Sir Henry to myself appears to be as follows (for more detail take a look at the PDF version of the tree available from here):
Duggleby (possibly Difgelibi, first name unknown): Born approx. 1115 – died ? Wife’s name unknown?
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Sir Henry de Duggleby (de Dingelby) Born approx. 1145 – died ? (Brother Jollan): Wife’s name unknown?
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Adam Duggleby Born 1195 –? Wife?
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Adam Duggleby (de Dugleby) 1250 – 1300 (Brother Hugh): Wife Joan
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Ralph Duggleby (de Dugleby) 1275 –? (Siblings: John, Robert, Adam): Wife?
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William Duggleby (Willelmo de Dugelbi) 1305 –? (Siblings: John, Walter): Wife?
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John Duggleby (Dyngelby) 1345 –? (Siblings: William, Robert): Wife?
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John Duggleby (de Duggylby) 1370 –? (One unknown brother): Wife?
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William Duggleby (Willim Dogilby) 1402 –? Wife?
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Duggleby (first name unknown): 1424 –? Wife?
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Thomas Duggleby (Doggleby of Thornholme) 1460 – 1503 Wife Margaret
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Walter Duggleby (Doggleby) 1485 –? (Siblings: Joan, Alice): Wife?
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William Duggleby (Douglebi of North Dalton) 1510 – 1561 (Siblings: Cuthbert, John): Wife?
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Robert Duggleby (Dugleby, Dougelbe of North Dalton) 1535 – 1589 (Siblings: Roger, Ann): Wife Mabel
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William Duggleby (Dougilbie) 1575 – 1620 (Siblings: John, Matthew, Richard, John, Audrey, Issabel) Wife Margaret
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Robert Duggleby 1605 – 1678 (Siblings: William, Thomas, Isabel): Wife Elizabeth
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John Duggleby 1675 – 1728 (Siblings: Nickolas, Elisabeth, Margaret, Beatrice): Wife Elizabeth
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David Duggleby 1723 – 1806 (Siblings: John, Rachel, Ann): Wife Elizabeth
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William Duggleby 1750 – 1794 (Sibling: Rebecca): Wife Elizabeth
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John Duggleby 1775 – 1830 (Siblings: Michael, William, Mary, Betty, Rebecca): Wife Jane
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William Duggleby 1804 – 1876 (Siblings: John, David, Bryan, Mary, Elizabeth, Mary, Anne): Wife Ann
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John Duggleby 1834 – 1911 (Siblings: George, William, Mary, Ann, Elizabeth, Jane, Matilda, Hannah): Wife Ann
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John William Duggleby 1879 – 1950 (Siblings: Seth, Wilson, Fred, Seth, Tom, George, Barbara, Mary, Frances, Ada): Wife Annie
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Leslie Duggleby 1907 – 1943 (Siblings: George, Maude, Adeline, Annie): Wife Elizabeth
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John Leslie Duggleby Born 1937 (Sibling: June): Wife Christine Helen
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Christopher Leslie Duggleby Born 1958 (Siblings: Matthew John, Helen Louise): Wife Monika
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Alexander Duggleby Born 1983 and Pascal Duggleby Born 1989
Chris Duggleby 
Hi Chris! What information have you found for the surname Dugelby? My father, James Aubrey Dugelby, was born in Mexico to James Dugelby of Scotland and his French wife Louise. His brother had two sons: Thomas & James Bruce Dugelby (who both immigrated to Canada). We grew up in Texas: older sister Barbara, me (Elizabeth Gail), and younger brother James Michael Dugelby. As far as we know, we are the only “Dugelby’s” in the United States.
Hi Gail,
I did a quick search using Adobe on the pdf global Duggleby file (link at the top of the family tree page) to see where Dugelby appears. There is a James Dugelby (b 1819 d 1889) who was a cotton mill manager in the UK (Bolton then Stockport) and then moved to Waco, Texas as a machinist/locksmith. The chart has him married to Sarah Ann Gibson (from Vienna austria). He was part of a large family in the UK (details in the tree P34). His offspring (P35 – were in Texas and Ohio). On page 37 we have another James Dugelby from Bolton (cotton mule fitter b 1862 to 1937) who married Mary Ann Holt in 1893 and among their children was James Dugelby (Cotton Mill manager in Bolton who moved to Mexico. He was married to Alicia Elise Lussiez and had 2 children Joan Dugelby (Mexico City) and James Aubrey (1933 – 2012 who married Elizabeth Clare Russell 1960 – 1991). Another son on P37 (Thomas a fitter in Bolton 1906-1988) had two children, Thomas Blair (1932-1999 moved from Devon to Canada) and another born 1944 (also moved to Canada) who I couldn’t include details of in the tree (for Data protection reasons I could only include people believed to be deceased). If this info is correct your Grandather (James) also had a brother William who moved to Mexico City. His son William Douglas’s (Mexico City) details are on P 38. More details of your father are on P 39 (mainly data protected but you should be able to identify who the people are). I didn’t spot any other Dugelbys in the USA but as this version of the name was in use as early as the 13th Century (Thomas de Dugelby and his son Henry de Dugelby and also Adam de Dugelby all on Page 1) you never know. Hope this helps.
All the best, Chris.