Bebb Family History
Hello and welcome to my Bebb home page.
My name is Malcolm Bebb. I've been sporadically researching the Bebb family for a few years now. Over that time I've collected a few snippets that are sometimes interesting to other Bebb researchers, and it's getting hard to keep track of what I've emailed to whom. So I decided to put it together here.
While you're here, if you have any related information that you'd like to share, I'd be happy to include it or of course add a link. Similarly, I'd be happy to include any Bebb related research interests. I'd like to use this page to collect together a few Bebb threads.
More generally, I am now sponsoring the Powys and
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Bebb History
Any additions or new information are very welcome, not just for the early history of Bebbs in Wales (or before??) but for Bebbs generally.
The Centre
The starting point for most of the Bebbs that I've asked is in the old county of Montgomeryshire, in North Wales. The county is now swallowed up in the (post 1974) county of Powys. The towns of Welshpool, Newtown, Llanbrynmair and to a lesser extent the county town Montgomery keep coming up, together with surrounding villages. These places are all close together, so it's likely that any Bebbs from this general area are related at some point.
The early history is as yet unclear. Herbert Bebb, and the International Genealogical Index, refer to Bebbs in Montgomeryshire, Wales in the 17th century. The book "Surnames of Wales" refers to Bebbs in Llanbrynmair in the late 16th century.
However, the 1881 Shropshire census lists a
lot of Bebbs. Ivor Bebb, of Welshpool, has a
copy of the Ludlow parish register, of uncertain age, which lists
the marriage of an Ann Bebb in Ludlow, Shropshire on Mar 24 1568.
It covers the period 1564 to 1634, and also refers to Bebbe's and
Bubb's. Ivor spoke to me on the phone, so I've not seen the book.
John is a name that crops up frequently, as does Maurice. I've
heard very little about Bebbs from Shropshire, although the
county appears to have long had a significant Bebb population.
Coming back to Montgomeryshire, Ivor talks of Castle Caerinion as
being an early Bebb centre, and was told in his youth of a lot of
Bebbs in Llandisilio. I have a family tree of Thomas Bebb, of
nearby Llanfair Caerinion, but at 1752 he's a relative newcomer.
In addition to John, Thomas is a very common name in this line
along with Maurice (Morris) and Evan.
The IGI for Montgomeryshire has a 1696 reference to the will of an Anna Bebb. Thomas Bebbe is mentioned in a tax assessment in Llanbrynmair in 1596 (told to me by Hugh Hughes).
Hugh also told me of the view taken by local historians in Llanbrynmair, quoting Montgomery Collection Vol 24 as a source. "In 1331 Edward III introduced 70 families of Flemish weavers to teach their skills to the English and Welsh. This migration to our shores continued for a century." This has its attractions, providing a basis for the persistent Huguenot theory (see below) which may have become confused with it in later times.
Spreading Out
A William Bebb, born around 1724, left Wales for the United States, and arrived in Ohio. Around 1940 one of his descendants researched the family history, and published a book of the family history. I've got a copy of part of Herbert Bebb's Book. Various other Bebbs followed over the next few generations. It seems likely that they were largely from the same branch, since there are references to relatives. William seems to be a popular name in this branch.
Over the years Bebbs have spread out. There are records of more Bebbs moving to Ohio c 1847, and to Canada round about that time, maybe a bit later. They are (thinly) scattered over the UK and US, plus Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
My own branch moved south, to the Rhondda Valley in Glamorgan. This was most likely to get work in the coal mines, around the 1850s or probably a little earlier. Subsequently, early this century my grandfather moved to England.
Northern Connections?
Andrew Bebb of Liverpool
has some observations which go back just a little earlier:
"I am interested in an Anglo-Saxon Northumberland connection.
I came across this in the Encyclopedia Britannica: "Ida(d.
559), king of Bernicia (from 547), soon after the foundation of
the kingdom of Bernicia by the Angles in the British Isles. He
built the fortress of Bebbanburh, the modern Bamborough; and after his death his
kingdom, which did not extend south of the River Tees, passed in
turn to six of his sons."
There was also a Northumbrian Queen Bebba. I remember
seeing in my College in Durham a coat of arms with the
inscription Bebb below it.
Bebb does seem a very un-Welsh name. I wonder if the family moved
to Wales under pressure from the Norse invasions?"
Leicester?
I got an email from a commercial firm who publish pre-researched 'shrink-wrapped' family histories, together with coat of arms, decorative scroll etc. They reckon the name came from Leicestershire (pronounced Lester-shire) in England, pre 1100. Since all the names they offer seem to be traceable to pre 1100, that isn't convincing. However, Leicestershire isn't very far from Wales, so it's possible. To get any further requires an outlay of $15. That $15 is still in my bank account, but if you've tried these people I'd like to hear from you.
Origin of the Name
Here are some theories about the origin of the name Bebb. If you know a different one, I 'd like to hear from you.
Bebb the Welsh
Any Welsh name beginning with a B or P is immediately suspected of being an abbreviation of 'ap <something>', which would be 'ap Ebb'. I must confess I'm not comfortable with that, it doesn't sound right. Too short, maybe. Like me.
Huguenots - or not?
I've also heard a rumour that the name is of Huguenot origin. Herbert Bebb mentions this rumour in his book, part of which you can read on this site, and seems to accept it as fact.
Herbert writes of Bebbs already established in 1663. But the Edict of Nantes was revoked in 1685, twenty two years later. The edict basically provided protection for Protestants in a hostile Catholic regime, and the hostility had already been apparent for many years. So an earlier immigration of a Huguenot individual is quite possible, and it is also possible that several individuals or family groups came into Britain over a period of time. That would allow for Herbert's ancestor to have arrived later, in the general exodus around 1685, but personally I have difficulties with this theory.
The Huguenot theory receives some support in article about Bebb settlers in Ohio, from a 1976 newspaper article on the Venedocia home page (Venedocia is an early Ohio settlement with a strong Bebb connection - see the links). I suspect that this article is based on Herbert's research and is therefore not a separate source, but it does have this to add:
Our search on the prolific Bebb family is not so complete. Mrs. James Jervis was also of this family. The first Bebb in Wales (probably William) was also a French Huguenot.
The spelling in French was Bieb and in English Beeb. He was a weaver by trade coming to Wales in 1685.
There are references to Bebbs and Jervises intermarrying, thereby providing a possible route for a Bebb descendant to claim Huguenot ancestry - although not from the Bebb line.
Herbert also mentions the French name (de) Boebe, but that is claimed by Beebe (see below), and he also mentions the older variants Bebbe (or Bubbe). Unfortunately I don't know what his sources are.
The French Connection
On the plus side, the French surname (de) Boebe that Herbert mentions is genuine for the period- here's a reference to one (but you have to translate it yourself). I did try to find a French 'Bebb' some while ago, without success, and this is as near as I've seen. But bearers of the surname Beebe seem to have a stronger claim to Boebe (or originally, perhaps, de Boebe). Les Beebe has an explanation for it on his home site http://www.courthouse.demon.co.uk/main/genealogy.htm.
Saxons
Larry Hoefling hoefling@ix.netcom.com
does surnames. He has a web site at http://clanhuston.com, so I
asked his views. This is (a digest of) what he had to say.
"In medieval times (when surnames were adopted), there were
several given names that were commonly found among both men AND
women. Thinking about it, such practices are not so uncommon
today either. (I've made several mistakes assuming gender
regarding people who have sent me Email, witness: Chris, Pat,
Sammy, et al.).
Bebbe was one such name. Bebb is a patronymic surname of Anglo-Saxon
origin, as a variation of the given name Bebbe, which would also
occur as a surname in that spelling. Bebbing is a diminutive
form, and the location in Cheshire, England called Bebbington is derived from the combination
of Bebbe/Bebbing + Old English tun = settlement, which described
a medieval settlement headed by Bebbe or Bebbing.[Kate
Monks lists Bebbe and Bebba as both male and female
Saxon given names on her web site An Onomastikon (Dictionary
of Names)MB]
I should have mentioned that the origin of the given name Bebbe
isn't clear, but may have been a nursery nickname drawn from
bebathe = to wash, or beber = an Old English term for beaver (in
the sense of arrival of first front teeth)."
| Just for fun, I enquired of a few Bebbs - my
top two front teeth are a lot bigger than the others. How
many others show this trait? Votes so far, three out of
four responses (including me) are "Yes". Voting
remains open. Are we really descended from Saxon 'beavers'? |
![[Beaver]](bvr.gif) |
Deutschland Über Alles?
Or, in the present layout, unter alles. The names Bebber and
Van Bebber (Van Bibber) may be found in Germany, probably as
common as Bebb is in the UK or US. Try this site to find a few: The
Ultimate Directory - Infospace. I don't know the distribution
within Germany, but Germany/Holland includes the original Saxon
country and it appears that Van Bebber's were
emigrating from this general area in the 1600s. So we can have
the best of both worlds!
Interestingly, Von Bebber doesn't seem to appear. 'Van' to me
implies Dutch, although the boundaries used to be pretty blurred.
The name appears also in Belgium, Holland and Austria, and Bebba
appears as a variant.
The present day Van Bibbers and Van Bebbers are a pretty organised bunch, they have their own web site and electronic newsletter. Here is an extract from one of their newsletters:
VAN BIBBER SURNAME
By Charles Van Bebber, stationed in Stuttgart Germany
The name VAN BEBBER means simply "from Bebber." I have never located a town named Bebber in The Netherlands, though it might actually exist in Germany and now called something else. Bebber is the original--not Bibber. Van Bebber was not originally a surname, since most commoners were known by their patronymics: Isaacs, Jacobs, Peters, Hendricks, Dericks, Lenarts, Hermanns, Martins, Johans, Friedrichs, Andrews, Arnolds, Willems, Gerrits, Richards, Barents, Roelofs, Mathis, etc. Only when the family became more prominent and owned estates, I believe, did they assume the family name Van Bebber.
When did this occur? Since there are few records that I know of in which Van Bebbers are listed as a surname prior to their migration to Krefeld in the Palatinate, I would surmise that the name evolved in the mid-17th century or slightly earlier. Prior to that, the name was probably like one of those listed above. There is a town called Bebber am Deister, formerly known as Bedebur. Also, it could derive from the German word BEBER (which I have seen in American sources as a misspelling), which means BEAVER. So, it could simply mean "one who dwells by the beaver dam" or something like that. Could be "one who dwells by the sign of the beaver" if the early family were merchants and this were their logo, was usually done for innkeepers and merchants.
Charles Van Bebber
The name newsletter also talks of Matthias Van Bebber emigrating from Holland to America in the 1680s.
My view on the subject
Personally, I think dropping the final syllable from Bebbe(r) is more likely than changing a long e (Beebe) to the short e in Bebb. If your name is Bebb, how many zillion times have you been called Beeb? But I'm speaking as a late 20th century English speaker, perhaps it wasn't always that way.
Places
Distances are 'as the crow flies'. You should assume a fairly high-flying crow.
![[Map of pre-1974 Welsh Counties]](woldmap.gif)
Map of pre-1974 Welsh Counties
Courtesy Data Wales - see Links
Montgomery is the main town,
and formerly county town, of Montgomeryshire. The "county
town" is the county's equivalent of a capital city, the
administrative centre of each county. A county town is likely to
have a long history, for instance Winchester (Hampshire) and
Dorchester (Dorset) were both Roman towns.
I don't know if the county name came from the town, or vice
versa, although in Montgomery's case the name apparently derives
from Sir Roger de Montgomery who arrived there not too long after
the Norman invasion, in the early 1100s.
If you dig around in the North Wales Internet site you can find a page specifically about Montgomery.
From Welshpool it's pretty much
due west to the other main Bebb references of Llanfair Caerinion,
Llanbrymair, Darowen, and WNW to Dollgellau, near the coast, all
of which still appear on modern maps.
Tawelfan is another name that pops up. It appears as
the name of a farm near Llanbrynmair. Here are some notes that
Dave Bebb made:
"I am sitting here with my tattered 1944 "Bebb Genealogy", which details the
descendants of William Bebb and Martha Hughes. This was put
together by Herbert Bebb of Chicago. ... The map in the beginning
of this book locates Montgomeryshire in an exploded view, and
Tawelan seems to be almost exactly one mile west of the
Llanbrynmair parish church. (Herbert has located eleven points of
interest in Montgomeryshire.) Unfortunately, the map is a poor
reproduction, and difficult to read. I believe Tawelan is
somewhat less than a mile north of a place labled Dolgadfan.
Other nearby towns (?) include Plas Caguir (sp), Oringoed, Rhow-myn,
and there appears to be a nearby mtn. range called Mynydd Ty'r
Sais. Darowan (spelling from this map) is almost exactly three
miles to the west and slightly north of Tawelan".
Tawelfan can be found on the British Ordnance Survey "Landranger" map, sheet 136, in the top left hand corner. Herbert's description is good enough to locate it. The name is alongside a small group of isolated buildings, apparently a farm. The map was current at Feb 1998.
The name occurs in two more places that I've seen. One is a
cemetery reference in Ohio: "GOMER CEMETERY aka: PIKE RUN ,
LLEWLYN or TAWELFAN Location: East Side of Sandy Point, 1/2 mi
North of US 30N", from this site: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/5409/sugarcrk.html.
It refers to John.B.Bebb together with Sephora and Ann.
The other reference is in the naming of a line of Welsh Cobs (horses!),
listed at the University of Aberystwyth which is not very from
Llanbrynmair, listed c 1995.
Tal-y-Llyn is seven or eight miles south of Dollgellau (Dollgelly).
![[Map of Wales]](mont.gif)
1898 Map of north Wales. Marked area is "Bebb Country"
Take care if you click on the map - it leads to a much bigger version that won't fit on a single screen. You have to scroll around in it. It's scanned from a 1898 atlas, and you can read the place names. I couldn't bring myself to mark it up, it was enough of a sacrifice dropping the colour depth to make it manageable
Many Bebbs moved south, so here is the other half of the map - south Wales. It's an overlapping scan of the same map, as I couldn't scan the whole thing in one go. The page was too big and the scanner ran out of memory.
Ystradyfodwg is as hard to find as it is to pronounce. It's a parish in Glamorgan, to the north of Llantrisant parish. Parishes aren't often shown on maps. As Maureen Jenkins explained "The Rhondda Valleys (two) is made up of three ancient parishes. Llanwonno, Llantrisant and Ystradyfodwg." Ystradyfodwg was a fairly large parish taking in part of Abedare in the east, all the top ends of the Rhondda Valleys down as far as Porth. You'll need to know this if you're looking for Bebbs in Glamorgan, and there are plenty of them.
Bebington (one 'b' - I checked)
is just south of Birkenhead, across the Mersey from Liverpool.
It's about halfway between Birkenhead and Ellesmere Port,
therefore not very far north of Wales - about 15 miles. It's
about 40 miles from Bebington to Welshpool, with a further 6 or
12 to Montgomery or Newtown respectively. So a link is completely
viable, in terms of distance. And, with Liverpool one of the main
emigration ports to the US, the return trip en route to America
isn't hugely difficult, either.
I found this reference: BEBINGTON, Merseyside: Bebba's estate.
From Bebba, an Old English man's name, and tun, 'an estate', at http://www.ursaminr.demon.co.uk/britain/b.htm
![[Map of Southern UK]](SUK.gif)
Map of the southern part of the UK, showing the interesting bits
Poole is not in Wales, it's in
Dorset. The reason it gets in here is because it's where I live.
It is, as the town's publicity department will tell you, a
beautiful place. In fact they'll sell you stickers, mugs, T-shirts,
baseball caps and a bunch of other things, all reminding you that
Poole is a beautiful place.
Poole is approximately in the middle of the south coast of
England, about 40 miles west of Southampton. When TV weather
presenters want to show an east-west difference in the weather,
they usually draw their line through Poole, just to confuse us.
It works.
Poole boasts the second largest natural harbour in the world (although
Halifax (or somewhere in Canada) disputes the claim), and tends
to fill up with Yachties. The harbour commissioners are thinking
of turning Poole Quay into a marina for visiting yachtsmen.
Instead of a view of Brownsea Island, we'll have a view of (another)
fleet of yacht masts. Oh, and the toilet ship moored at the Quay
for the use of the visiting yachtsmen. Then it will be a less
beautiful place, even for yachtsmen.
But the climate is mild, the surrounding countryside including
the New Forest and Purbeck Hills is worth coming for, the town is
historic (as are several of its neighbours) while having
thoroughly modern facilities, and you can get ferries to France
and the Channel Islands. So I'm staying. See
for yourself. - follow these links.
Me and My Interests
Well, I live in Poole, in England. I'm
mid-forties, married with three daughters, all at school. I make
my living generating and maintaining electronics test solutions
based (usually) on automatic test equipment, or failing that I
work as a technical author. (Contract)
Personal interests include camping, folk music, Gary Larson and
playing Doom. Plus of course a certain amount of genealogy, on an
'as and when' basis. Mostly this is centered around the Bebb
name, as it's unusual. I squirrel away Bebb snippets when I can,
although most of them tend not to be directly related to my
branch of the family.
Genealogical Interests
My paternal grandfather, Thomas Elon Bebb, came from
Ton Pentre in the Rhondda, one of four - Tom, Cyril, Sid and
Ethel. His birth was registered at Pontypridd in 1906.
His father, Thomas Bebb, a miner, (no recorded middle name),
and wife Emily (nee Davies), lived in Gelly/Ton Pentre, in
Ystradyfodwg parish. Thomas was born around 1857/1858, apparently
in Newtown. I haven't identified his birth or father yet,
although a family in Bettws in Montgomery might be promising.
Thomas reportedly had two brothers. I have the names Maurice (or Morris), and Jack. However, it is said that Thomas had a brother called Evan Charles Bebb, also a miner - but Evan had a son, Elon, in Ton Pentre (Ystradyfodwg) in 1898 (Wife Elizabeth, nee James). So Evan is perhaps more likely to be Tom's uncle - or maybe his father had a second family. Elon or his descendants emigrated to Canada.
This is the area I'm trying to sort out.
The name Evan pops up in other Bebb references. I'd like to know where the name Elon came from, as a given name. (Apart from Elon the Hittite, who as far as I'm aware was not Welsh.) The use of biblical names was common, but was Elon, son of Evan Charles, the first in the family to have it? Also I need to find out about Tom's birth. Maybe it was Tom's father who came from Newtown? And there's every likelihood that he was called Thomas, too!
Now these are the generations of Esau, who is Edom. Esau took his wives of the daughters of Canaan; Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite;
The other interest is Gough. In particular, Sarah Gough 1910-1932, daughter of Henry (Harry) Gough and Jane Fleming, around the Crumlin area. Both Gough and Fleming are old names also found in Ireland - there is a rumour that Sarah was Irish. Many families moved into South Wales from other regions, including Scotland and Ireland, for work in the now defunct pits or foundries. Ideally I'd like to get in touch with any of the family(ies) still in this area.
Finally, Whitney crops up. Whitney is the name of my maternal grandfather. The name is very old, and Whitneys have spread out over much of the world from a start in Whitney on Wye in Herefordshire. I'm not actively researching Whitney, but would welcome snippets on Welsh Whitneys, especially from Monmouthshire and in particular Blaina.
Famous Bebbs
I suppose it depends what you mean by famous. I don't know of any very famous Bebbs, but one or two did get noticed.
Ohio had a Governor Bebb from Dec. 12, 1846 to Jan. 22, 1848. He gets a few mentions on the Web, and has a park named for him. I'm told "Governor Bebb Preserve is located off State Route 126 (Cincinnati-Brookville Road) about nine miles west of Ross, in Butler County's Morgan Township." I believe that this site (unless there's a second one) contains his old home, although that's not its original location. You can read an account of his life on this site, and there's a newspaper report mentioning him at http://www.clpgh.org/clp/exhibit/neighborhoods/downtown/down_n118.html
Robert Bebb was a botanist in Oklahoma. His son, called
(as I understand it) in true Welsh style, Robert Bebb, followed
in his father's footsteps. The Oklahoma National History Museum
has some information on him - see the links later
in this page.
One of the staff replied to my email:
" I am the interim curator of the Robert Bebb Herbarium.
There is a short bibliography on Robert Bebb and his family.
Robert Bebb was a successful florist in Muskogee, Oklahoma;
however, in his spare time, he collected plants throughout
Oklahoma. He donated his personal collections (around 30,000
specimens) to the University of Oklahoma. Hence, the herbarium
was named for him."
BEBB, Dewi Iorwerth Ellis (1938-1996) was a rugby
player for Wales, a winger. Some consider a Welsh rugby cap the
ultimate honour. I was surprised to learn that he had died so
recently. People - for some reason, doctors in particular - kept
asking me if we were related. Apparently we were, but at some
distance, and he or his immediate family were not well liked by
my side. I never found out why. Perhaps because I didn't ask. I'm
told he came from Bangor, and went on to have a successful career
in broadcasting when his playing days were over.
I'm completely the wrong shape for a winger. I did play tight
head prop at school, but I was a bit on the short side and,
overall, my rugby career was not distinguished.
The name of Dewi's fatherW. Ambrose Bebb pops up from time to time. He was an author and poet active in promoting Welsh and more generally Celtic interests in the first half this century. If this web site lasts long enough for you to wonder, that's the 20th century. His works tend to be in Welsh, so I can't tell you much about them.
Ambrose's grandson, Guto (Dewi's nephew) told me a little about him:
During the period 1925-1955 my grandfather lived in Bangor, North Wales where he lectured at the teacher training college. A visitor in 1946 was Herbert Bebb from Chicago who was researching the family history. I have always been told that we are descended from French Hugenots by my family and this might well be due to the influence of Herbert! The visit led to my grandfather researching and publishing 'Y Baradwys Bell' - The Far Away Paradise which was a history of the experience of his family who had moved to the USA.
During the period 1925-1955 my grandfather lived in Bangor, North Wales where he lectured at the teacher training college. A visitor in 1946 was Herbert Bebb from Chicago who was researching the family history. I have always been told that we are descended from French Hugenots by my family and this might well be due to the influence of Herbert! The visit led to my grandfather researching and publishing 'Y Baradwys Bell' - The Far Away Paradise which was a history of the experience of his family who had moved to the USA.
An Edward Bebb got a Civil War medal: BEBB, EDWARD J.
Rank and organization: Private, Company D, 4th lowa Cavalry.
Place and date: At Columbus, Ga., 16 April 1865. Entered service
at: Henry County, lowa. Birth: Butler County, Ohio. Date of issue:
17 June 1865. Citation: Capture of flag.
Was he the same Edward Bebb who married Harriet C. Crosby in 1868
in Atkinson, IL?
Bebbs Today
The purpose of this section is to identify those Bebbs/researchers who would maybe like to correspond with others. It isn't intended to duplicate the interests page. Mail me...Malcolm Bebb. I won't put the names/addresses of individuals here unless requested.
"Your email address and research/other interests here"
(maybe even commercial, if short and relevant. )
Anthea Ashfield a.k.a ashfield@one-name.org has some Bebb information. She is looking for BEBB, ASHFIELD & SYNDERCOMBE.
William Bebb WBebb@aol.com
of California asks: "Does anyone know this Bebb who played a
part in P.G. Wodehouse's 'Jeeves and Wooster' presentation. It
starred those two gentlemen who worked with Rowan Atkinson in the
'Black Adder' series. I can't remember their names. "
Well, I don't know him but I do know of him. His name is Richard
Bebb. He's been in a few other things as well. There is a
photo of him at his Home Page http://village.vossnet.co.uk/o/owenw/.
I thoroughly enjoyed the books, and the TV series - starring two
very funny comedians, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. Richard is
also into opera and bronze busts of operatic figures
The name Richard appears a couple more times - one is involved, I believe, in Welsh local government and another has considerable expertise in early Welsh furniture. I believe these are different individuals, feel free to correct me.
If you do a search on the Web, you'll come across a variety of Bebbs, past and present (Note - different search engines return slightly different sets of results). Ordinarily, you might consider doing a Web search on your surname to be a pretty sad course of action, but I'm sure it can be justified for the sake of genealogical research.
There are architects, an actor, some computer people, a
realtor (I think that's what we in the UK call an estate agent.
Given the bad press that estate agents get, I'd probably prefer
to be called something different, too). There's a former (Catholic!)
minister, a publisher, some students, some academics. If you've
travelled in Wales, or even England, you might have come across
one of "Bebb's Buses" - run by:
Bebb Travel Plc The Coach Station Llantwit Fardre Pontypridd Mid
Glamorgan CF38 2HB.
When you've got used to having a name that nobody's heard of, it
comes as a shock to see "your" name emblazoned across
the side of a 50-seater coach!
If you're visiting Wales, this
might interest you:
"RHOSGADLAS is a converted barn of character, situated near
the beautiful Tal-y-Llyn lake at the foot of Cader Idris
in the Snowdonia National Park. The pretty bedrooms have
washbasins, shaver points, hospitality trays and separate
bathroom facilities. Sitting room has beams and fireplace. Also
adjoining is a tea room serving afternoon teas.
B & B from UKP 16pp, Rooms: 1 en-suite twin, 2 double, No
smoking, Minimum age 14, No pets, Open March - October.
Rhosgadlas, Tal-y-Llyn, Tywyn, Gwynedd LL36 9AJ
Mrs Rhian Bebb, Tel: +44 (0)1654 761462 Fax: +44 (0)1654 761462"
Sadly I've lost the map reference and the URL (It might have been
http://www.kgp-publishing.co.uk/WALES.html,
but the ad's no longer there). I'm told it's good fishing country.
Not an endorsement, just a mention.
I do, however, like the postcode (the LL36 9AJ bit). Very roughly, postcodes for a area typically start with the first two letters of the (or a) major town in that area. Starting a Welsh postcode with LL must narrow it down to a few thousand...
Variations
Beeb, Beebe, Bebington, Bebbington - and that's without
starting on the Bab- and Bub- variants. Are they variations of
the same name, or simply different names?
Larry Hoefling thinks that at least
some of them have the same root. And Mary
Beebe is happy to hear from any variation.
Me, I'm just keeping it simple.
Round about 1834 a Bebb married a lady called Leach. Ladies keeping their maiden name as a middle name is not uncommon (and is most helpful to genealogists), but this couple adopted the double-barrelled form of Leach-Bebb. Apart from that I know absolutely nothing about them.
Books
Believe it or not, there are some books about Bebbs. There is even a fiction series, brought together in "The book of Bebb", by the Rev. Frederick Buechner. It would be interesting to know why he chose Bebb. There is some info at http://www.windwords.org/virtual/books/secrets_bio.html.
One of the descendants of William Bebb from Llanbrynmair (Herbert Bebb of Chicago) researched his family history in the 1940s. I know of four copies of his book (one in private hands), but you can read a substantial extract from it here.
There are a couple of scam books - or maybe the same scam book
in more than one guise. These are the ones advertised by mail, or
more recently by spam email, offering details of the family coat
of arms etc etc. I don't personally believe there is a Bebb coat
of arms (but I could be wrong if Andrew
Bebb's memory serves him well).
I've been given one of these books. It has a list of 600+ (at
1989) names and addresses, in zip code/postcode order, by
country, with some basic analysis. It shows a Bebb coat of arms,
with description but no history or location. The rest of the book
is filled with the basic (and very general) genealogy stuff that
you could get in any bookshop.
A relative bought one, out of curiosity. His name wasn't in it - it was added as a very obvious postscript, presumably after they got his order...
There is a Bebb book, I'm told, in London, in Welwyn Garden City. I tried to contact the owner, who was invariably out when I phoned, so I have no idea which book it is, or whether it really does exist. It seems this group of Bebbs are into male voice choirs, a traditional Welsh preoccupation.
Bebbs in the US
The Welsh played a significant part in the development of the northern US, with significant populations in Pennsylvania and Ohio. William Bebb and his family get a variety of mentions on this site. The Bebbs are also mentioned in this book, which Mike Hall of Powys Family History Society told me about:
The Welsh in America - Letters from the Immigrants. ed. Alan Conway. Pub Cardiff, Universiy of Wales press, 1961. Here are a couple of extracts:
(Page 51:) Between 1789 and 1802 the rural areas of Wales were plagued by a series of bad harvests ...
(Page 52:) In 1795 a party ... of about 50 emigrants left the neighbourhood of Llanbrynmair in Montgomeryshire for the lands purchased by the Baptist Minister, Morgan John RHYS, and the Cambrian Company in Western Pennsylvania. Prominent amongst these emigrants were Ezekiel HUGHES, George ROBERTS, and Edward BEBB. [there is more about Bebb & Hughes later in the book]
Links
No Home Page can be considered complete without the mandatory set of links, so here are a few to choose from. These are all sites that I've visited and found interesting or useful.
I've split them into two groups. The Bebb links have references of
specific Bebb interests, referring to a past or present Bebb. The
general links are others of
genealogical, Welsh or personal interest.
Plus I've left room for some guest links.
My Links - Bebb
Mary Beebe has an "all
variations of the name" Beebe web site at:
http://www.bright.net/~bbe/
Some emigrant Bebbs helped to start a village called Venedocia
in Van Wert County, Ohio. It's still there, and still has a
strong Welsh influence and interest in its past, although the
Bebb name has apparently faded out. Its pop is about 160, from
which they draw the resources for a cool Home Page with Welsh
maps, history, culture and a story about the original settlers.
One of them was William Bebb, relative of William Bebb, Governor
of Ohio. It's at:
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/2761/
Robert Bebb was a biologist (botanist?) in Oklahoma. He
and his son did a lot of field research and collected many
specimens, which were eventually donated to the Oklahoma Museum
of Natural History. They named a Herbarium for him (Robert
Bebb Herbarium), he also has a willow tree (Salix bebbiana
Sarg, Bebb willow) named for him. The OMNH web site was being
redeveloped when I last looked at it (Jan 98). If you're
interested you might like to try a search 'cos the links were
still too flaky to include here. They also publish a little
booklet about Robert and son. There is a home page under
construction:
http://obssun02.uoknor.edu/bebb/home.html
My Links - General
There are lots of genealogy resources on the net, many free.
The real problem is finding the time to research them. I found
this page, by Pam Middleton-Lee, which has lots of links
to gene resources to get you started:
http://pages.prodigy.com/middleton/topten.htm
If you're interested in family history research, subscribing to a mailing list is a good way to share knowledge and make contact with others of similar interests. The ROOTSWEB site is the home of numerous such lists. It also houses the ROOTS-L surname list, a massive source of real names.
I've recently joined the Powys Family History Society,
one of two that cover Montgomeryshire. Their home page is at:
http://www.rootsweb.com/~wlspfhs/
Info for the Montgomeryshire Genealogical Society, of which I'm also a member, is at http://home.freeuk.net/montgensoc/
In fact you really should visit the Genuki site (GENealogy - UK and Ireland, or something like that, in case you wondered). It's full of good stuff, and is the premier UK genealogy site.
Broderbund produce the Family Tree Maker software
package, which comes in assorted flavours. They also do an
impressive searchable genealogy web site, which is a 'must visit'.
It has several Bebb references. Just to top it all, they do a
range of CDs with a huge amount of genealogical info. It's mostly
US and partly commercial, but still pretty good!
http://www.familytreemaker.com/index.html
The North Wales Internet
site is another good site to visit. It actually covers north,
south, west and east Wales, with lots of Welsh links. If you're
among those who consider that East Wales presently goes under the
name of "England", however, you should maybe delete it
from the above list. The site has a genealogy link, and a page
where you can leave messages of genealogical or other interest.
The URL is:
http://www.nwi.co.uk/
Taffnet is another Welsh site, with general information, links and some humour. Head for www.cyberphile.co.uk/~taff
Here is another link to Larry Hoefling's site, from which you
can get to his "What's in a Name" surnames page.
I know I gave it before, but it's good so I'll give it again.
http://clanhuston.com
These people, Data Wales, have some interesting Welsh information, including a useful set of Welsh maps showing old and new counties, roads, parks and so on. I was initially disappointed to discover that their relief map didn't show the locations of the public toilets. The site is at: http://163.164.160.228/index.htm
If you're interested in Welsh History you should visit this site. It leads to a colourful map of the old Welsh Kingdoms after the Romans went home, and similar pages for other English regions: http://freespace.virgin.net/david.ford2/wales.html
Julie's Welsh Surnames List has moved to a new home. It's now at the Welsh Family History Archive, with some enhanced aids to research: http://homepages.enterprise.net/johnball/wales/index.htm
A little different, Peter's WWW Pages cover an enormous variety. Of particular interest are his pages listing the origin of English and Welsh town names, plus some "Tales from Wales". He's got a definition for Bebington and Montgomery at :http://www.ursaminr.demon.co.uk/index.htm
Hugh and Marian Zorger have a Heritage site at http://www.ourancestry.com. They have a list of genealogy homepages, and will add yours.
I guess a link or two to my home
town of Poole isn't so unreasonable. Here's one to
start with: http://www.dorset-cc.gov.uk/poole.htm
and here's an excellent site covering Dorset:
http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/btomp/
Registering your web site with search engines isn't hard, but it's time consuming. The Webmasters will do it for you, registering with 50 search engines for free, if you give them a reciprocal link (like this one!) or insert their banner on one of your pages. Well, I didn't like their banner, so here is where you can find them: http://www.thewebmasters.bc.ca
The Society of Genealogists have a new page. I haven't had a good look yet (Mar 98), but it's still pretty new. See for yourselves at: http://www.sog.org.uk/
Your Links
Dede Fossati has a Family Tree Maker Home page at: http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/f/o/s/Dede--Fossati/index.html
By invitation - links to other Bebb-related Web resources or genealogical references. Mail me at: bebb@embetech.demon.co.uk
I've got a Family Tree Maker home page, too: http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/b/e/b/Malcolm-R-Bebb/. You get one free if you buy the software.