This interesting surname of English origin is a locational name from a place called Keisby in Lincolnshire, deriving from the old Norse byname Kisi meaning "cat" plus "by", "farm", hence, "Kisi's farm". The placename is recorded as Chisebi in the Domesday Book of 1086. The surname dates back to the early 13th Century, (see below). variations in the idiom of the spelling include Kisbee, Kisbey, Kisby, Kasbye, etc.. London church records include one Elizabeth Kasbye who was christened at Christchurch, Greyfriars, Newgate, on April 21st 1549. Francis, son of John Keisbye, was christened on October 8th 1609 in Spalding, and Robert Kisbey married Lisha Meane on December 6th 1668 at the Temple church of England. One William Kisby, aged 23 yrs a famine emigrant, sailed from London aboard the Hendrik-Huson bound for New York on June 20th 1846. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ralph de Kisebi, which was dated 1205, "The Curia Regis Rolls of Lincolnshire", during the reign of King John, known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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