Hamby/Hanby DNA Project- Background

Background

Our project began to determine the genetic relatedness of various Hamby and Hanby families in the absence of clear paper genealogies as well as to confirm or debunk those genealogies currently in circulation. According to most sources, the Hamby and Hanby families either take their name from a manor in Lincolnshire, England next to Welton-le-Marsh.

The first well recorded Hamby was Walter de Hamby, who lived from approximately 1120-1180 and was probably the son of Walter fitz Roger recorded in 1115-1118. Walter fitz Roger's Domesday predecessor as lord of Hamby in England was a man named Wimund, though the precise relation between Walter and Wimund or Wimund and Roger is currently unknown. The name Wimund was found in both England and Normandy at the time of the conquest. It is Nordic in origin and is a form of the Old Norse name Vemundr. There are also Hanbys in Ireland and Sweden, but so far we have none who are tested. There is also a Hambye family in northern France and Belgium who are probably linked to the place name in Normandy. We welcome and seek all these Hanbys and Hambys as well. For more information on the Lincolnshire Hambys/Hanbys, see Reginald Dudding's "History of the Parish and Manors of Alford with Rigsby and Ailby with Some Account of Well in the County of Lincoln." See also Volume Two of William Farrer's "Honours and Knights Fees." Also see this website, which has the best current genealogies of the family online: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=ann_blomquist&id=I45756