Legh, Leigh Families

Leigh Coat of Arms / Leigh Family Crest

SURNAMES as we know them today were first assumed in Europe from the 11th to the 15th Century.

They were not in use in England or in Scotland before the Norman Conquest, and were first found in the Domesday Book.

The employment in the use of a second name was a custom that was first introduced from the Normans.

They themselves had not long before adopted them. It became, in course of time, a mark of gentler blood, and it was deemed a disgrace for gentlemen to have but one single name, as the meaner sort had. It was not until the reign of Edward II (1307-1327) it became general practice amongst all people. This name was derived from the Old English word LEAH 'the dweller at the meadow or pasture'. Local names usually denoted where a man held his land, and indicated where he actually lived. Early records of the name mention Henry de la Lee, County Cambridge, 1273. Johannes del Lee of Yorkshire, was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379. Ann, daughter of Walter Lee was baptised at St. Jame's, Clerkenwell, London in 1565. Henry, son of William Lea, was baptised at the same church in the year 1682. John Lea and Elizabeth Baker were married at St. George's, Hanover Square, London in the year 1799. At first the coat of arms was a practical matter which served a function on the battlefield and in tournaments. With his helmet covering his face, and armour encasing the knight from head to foot, the only means of identification for his followers, was the insignia painted on his shield and embroidered on his surcoat, the flowing and draped garment worn over the armour. Since the dawn of civilisation the need to communicate has been a prime drive of all higher mankind. The more organised the social structure became, the more urgent the need to name places, objects and situations essential to the survival and existence of the social unit. From this common stem arose the requirements to identify families, tribes and individual members evolving into a pattern in evidence today. In the formation of this history, common usage of customs, trades, locations, patronymic and generic terms were often adopted as surnames. The demands of bureaucracy formally introduced by feudal lords in the 11th century, to define the boundaries and families within their fiefdoms, crystallized the need for personal identification and accountability, and surnames became in general use from this time onwards.

Etymology and History of the Surname: Leigh

View Name: LEIGH.

LEIGH

Derivation: Habitational from any of a number of places with this name. Old english leah 'woodland clearing'.

History: The name is of english origin.A bearer of the name was 'Sir Thomas Leigh',mayor of London 1558.

Linked Surnames: Leach,Lee,Lei,-leigh,-ley,Lay,Lea,Lees,Leese,Leighe.,

Baron Leigh is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first creation came in the Peerage of England 1643 when Sir Thomas Leigh, 2nd Baronet, was created Baron Leigh, of Stoneleigh in the County of Warwick. The Leigh Baronetcy, of Stoneleigh in the County of Warwick, had been created in 1611 for his grandfather and namesake Thomas Leigh. The latter was the second son of Sir Thomas Leigh (d. 1571), Lord Mayor of London in 1558, whose third son Sir William Leigh was the grandfather of Francis Leigh, 1st Earl of Chichester. The titles became extinct on the death of the fifth Baron Leigh in 1786.

The barony was revived in 1839 when the poet Chandos Leigh was created Baron Leigh, of Stoneleigh in the County of Warwick, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. He was a descendant of Rowland Leigh, eldest son of the aforementioned Sir Thomas Leigh (d. 1571), himself of a cadet branch of the Leighs of West Hall, High Legh. Both Lord Leigh's son, the second Baron, and grandson, the third Baron, served as Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire. The third Baron was succeeded by his nephew, the fourth Baron. As of 2010[update] the title is held by the latter's grandson, the sixth Baron, who succeeded his father in 2003.

The family seat is Stoneleigh Abbey, Kenilworth, Warwickshire. The records of the Leigh family of Stoneleigh are held in the archives of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

Leigh Baronets, of Stoneleigh (1611)

• Sir Thomas Leigh, 1st Baronet (d. 1626)
• Sir Thomas Leigh, 2nd Baronet (1595–1672) (created Baron Leigh in 1643)

Barons Leigh, First creation (1643)

• Thomas Leigh, 1st Baron Leigh (1595–1672)
• Thomas Leigh, 2nd Baron Leigh (1652–1710)
• Edward Leigh, 3rd Baron Leigh (1684–1738)
• Thomas Leigh, 4th Baron Leigh (1713–1749)
• Edward Leigh, 5th Baron Leigh (1742–1786)

Barons Leigh, Second creation (1839)

• Chandos Leigh, 1st Baron Leigh (1791–1850)
• William Henry Leigh, 2nd Baron Leigh (1824–1905)
• Francis Dudley Leigh, 3rd Baron Leigh (1855–1938)
• Rupert William Dudley Leigh, 4th Baron Leigh (1908–1979)
• John Piers Leigh, 5th Baron Leigh (1935–2003)
• Christopher Dudley Piers Leigh, 6th Baron Leigh (b. 1960)
  • (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baron_Leigh)

Descendants of Hamo de Leigh - The Baronetcy of S. Carolina

Leigh of South Carolina, America (GB Baronet, 1773 - dormant c. 1870)

Creation: let.pat. 15 May 1773

Dormant: c. 1870

Family name: Leigh

Arms: Or a Lion rampant Gules

Crest: A Cubit Arm habited grasping a Tilting Spear per bend all proper

Motto: Force Avec Vertu

See Editor's Note below on the use of the Egerton quarterings by Sir Samuel Egerton Leigh, 3rd Bt.

Sir Egerton Leigh, 1st Bt.

1st son and hr. of Peter Leigh, High Bailiff of Westminster and later Chief Justice of South Carolina (by his wife Elizabeth Latus, dau. of William Latus, of Manchester, co. Lancaster), 4th son of Rev Peter Leigh, of West Hall, High Legh, co. Chester, Rector of Lymm and Vicar of Great Budworth, co. Chester, by his wife Elizabeth Egerton, only dau. of Hon Thomas Egerton, of Tatton Park, co. Chester (by his wife Hester Busby, dau. of Sir John Busby, of Addington, co. Buckingham), 3rd son of John [Egerton], 2nd Earl of Bridgewater

born 11 Oct 1733

mar. 15 Jan 1756 at St Philip's Church, Charleston, South Carolina, Martha Bremar (b. 13 Mar 1738; d. 10 Jan 1801), dau. of Francis Bremar, of South Carolina, British North America, by his wife Martha Laurens, dau. of John Laurens, also of South Carolina, British North America

children

• 1. Egerton Leigh (b. 18 Dec 1759; dvp.)
• 2. Rev Sir Egerton Leigh, 2nd Bt.
• 3. Sir Samuel Egerton Leigh, of 42 Bedford Row, Westminster, and of Edinburgh, knighted 1793 (b. 1 Mar 1770; d. 11 Dec 1796), mar. 1793 Catherine Greig (d. aft. 1806), dau. of Alexander Greig, and had issue:
  • 1a. Sir Samuel Egerton Leigh, 3rd Bt.
• 4. Thomas Egerton Leigh, a plantation owner in Georgetown County, South Carolina (b. 1775; d. ????)
• 1. Martha Leigh (b. 5 Dec 1762), mar. (1) Nathan Garrick, nephew of the actor David Garrick, and (2) George Grazebrook
• 2. Elizabeth Harriet Leigh (b. 29 Jul 1764), mar. 1780 Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von der Malsburg, of Schloss Escheberg, Hesse-Cassel (d. 1855), and had issue
• 3. Mary Leigh (b. 1 Feb 1766), mar. 1783 John Smith, of Madeira
• 4. Harriet Anne Leigh (b. 30 Sep 1767; dsp.), mar. 1797 as his second wife Capt James Burnett, yr. bro. of Sir Thomas Burnett of Leys, 6th Bt., and 2nd son of William Burnett of Criggie by his wife Jean Burnett, 3rd dau. of Robert Burnett of Muchalls
• 5. Charlotte Lucy Leigh (b. 8 Dec 1768; d. 1801)

died 15 Sep 1781

created 15 May 1773 a Baronet of Great Britain, styled "of South Carolina, America"

suc. by son

note: a Member of the Council, Judge of the Vice-Admiralty Court, Surveyor-General and Attorney-General of South Carolina

• Rev Sir Egerton Leigh, 2nd Bt.
• born 25 Mar 1762
• mar. 13 May 1788 Theodosia Beauchamp Donellan (widow of Capt John Donellan RN, who was hanged 1 Apr 1781 for the murder of his wife's brother; mar. (3) 10 Feb 1823 as his second wife Surgeon-Captain Barry Edward O'Meara RN, attendant of the exiled Emperor Napoleon on St Helena (b. c. 1786; d. 3 Jun 1836); d. 14 Jan 1830), sister and hrss. of Sir Theodosius Edward Allesley Boughton, 7th Bt., and only dau. of Sir Edward Boughton, 6th Bt., of Lawford Hall, co. Warwick, by his second wife Anna Maria Beauchamp, dau. and cohrss. of John Beauchamp. of co. Warwick
• children
  • 1. Egerton Leigh (dvp.)
  • 1. Theodosia de Malsburg Leigh (b. 1792; d. 28 Feb 1870), mar. 1811 John Lucas-Ward later Ward-Boughton-Leigh DL, of Brownsover Hall, co. Warwick, and Great Addington Hall, co. Northampton (b. 1790; d. 18 Jun 1868), 4th son of William Zouch Lucas-Ward, of Guilsborough Hall, co. Northampton, by his wife Mary Lamb, only child of Robert Lamb, of Great Addington Hall, co. Northampton, and had issue
• died
• d.s.p.m.s. 27 Apr 1818
• suc. by nephew
• note: founder and first minister of Rugby Baptist Church
  • *Sir Samuel Egerton Leigh, 3rd Bt.
    • born 10 Nov 1796
    • died c. 1870
    • On the death of the 3rd Baronet the Baronetcy of Leigh of South Carolina may well have become extinct.
    • However, it is not known whether Thomas Egerton Leigh, the 4th but 3rd surv. son of the 1st Baronet, left any male descendants in Georgetown County, South Carolina. For this reason this baronetcy is usually listed as being dormant rather than extinct.

First written 24 Nov 2007 and revised 7 Jan 2008. The Editor is grateful to Mr Richard Adamson,  a descendant of Rev Peter Leigh, for his help with this article.

THE ONLY RELIABLE SOURCE FOR INFORMATION ON THIS LINEAGE IS BURKE'S PEERAGE

(not to be confused with peerage.com)

Links to Legh, Leigh, Lee information

• [http://www.burkespeerage.com/]
• Warrington in M.CCCC.LXV. As described in a contemporary rent roll of the Legh family, in the possession of Thomas Legh, esquire, of Lyme park (1849)
• The house of Lyme from its foundation to the end of the eighteenth century (1917)
• Remains, historical and literary, connected with the palatine ..., Volume 97 By Chetham Society
• Ancestry of John Barber White and his descendants By Almira Larkin White
• A history and genealogy of the Davenport family, in England and America, from A. D. 1086 to 1850 .. (1851)
• Plantagenet ancestry: a study in colonial and medieval families By Douglas Richardson, Kimball G. Everingham
• Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire for the year ... , Volume 31 (Google eBook). Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire. Printed for the Society, 1879.
• Cheshire parish registers. Marriages (1909)
• Burke's genealogical and heraldic history of the landed gentry, Volume 1 By John Burke
• The ancestry and posterity of John Lea, of Christian Malford (1906)
• Pedigrees Made at the Visitation of Cheshire, 1613 (1879)
• The visitation of Cheshire in the year 1580 (1882)
• A genealogical and heraldic history of the landed gentry of Great ..., Volume 2 By Sir Bernard Burke