The Dolby family

Dolby of Ely

The most recent Dolby in my family tree was my 4x Great Grandmother, Rebecca Dolby of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England.

Rebecca was presented for baptism at St. Mary's Church, Ely, in September 1798 by her mother Elizabeth Dolby and is noted as illegitimate. Curiously, there are no other Dolby surname-holders in the parish records at that time, but there are many in Ely's Holy Trinity Church registers - perhaps suggesting that Elizabeth was attempting to escape judgement and shame by avoiding her fellow parishioners. In reality, they were just 0.2 miles away from their prying eyes.

Rebecca went on to marry agricultural labourer, and my 4x Great Grandfather, William Moden of Coveney. They settled down to raise 9 Moden children.

It is not clear what became of Elizabeth, although an Elizabeth Dolby does marry a Daniel Haylock some years later. Her parents remain a mystery.

Little else is known about this branch, but more research will follow.

Dolby surname variants

I have only located two variants of the Dolby surname so far:

• Dolbey
• Dolby

Dolby family connections

The Dolby family is linked to just one of my other ancestral families so far:

• Moden