(c) 1999 TFDG

Origin of the surname

Talby, Talbee, Taublee, Tolby, and similar phonetic spellings are part of the same surname.  It cannot be established this time that all descend from a common ancestor.

There has been a lot of interesting speculation about the distant origins of the surname.  This is all without foundation.  The facts are as follows:

Talby first shows up in the Bay Colony in 1636 and mutates to Talbee with the first generation.

Talbee shows up in Maryland Colony at the end of the 17th century.  It is not possible at this time to establish that this is the same line.  A generation is missing.

Talbee in Maryland can be traced to the present day.  Spelling mutates to Taulbee and to Tolby.  The spelling of the variant may be related to where the individuals went to school and were taught to spell their names.  The pronunciation in the South was TOLBY regardless of spelling.  This will probably no longer be true as the line move to other regions of the United States and regional differences in pronunciation take over.  In the census, the spelling is sometimes interchanged, but it appears that the families that settled in Kentucky became TAULBEE and those who only passed through to other states became TOLBY.

It cannot be established that all members of the surname descend from a common ancestor.  TALBY is common in the London areas and there are TOLBY immigrants from Ireland in the 19th century.

It is requested that individuals who wish to help in this project submit their information to the Taulbee Family Discussion Group by posting to Taulbee-L@rootsweb.com.  Please include documentation.  Documentation may include the following and should be identified:

Paper Documents of an official nature and solid infomation not in dispute.

Information from secondary sources

Information included in letters or old writings.

Tanscriptions of either the above.

Personal knowledge including posts to the Taulbee or other mail lists.

Family tradition passed down over generations.

Information from Rose Taulbee's Family History not included in any of the above.

These of course are not equally reliable which is why we desire that they be identified.  As much as possible they will be color coded as above.

Circumstantial evidence and speculation should also be so identified.

Note that Rose Taulbee's book on the Taulbee Family is considered family tradition only because upon her death her notes were destroyed leaving her life's work undocumented.  The book has great value, but the information it contains needs to be redocumented.