This study endeavours to share documentation, provide clarification and flesh out the bare bones of earlier research on various ancestors. It hopes to minimize duplication of effort and expand the scope of research from one particular family to a larger family of origin where all descendants can find their place.

The name was registered with the Guild of One-Name Studies in 2018.

Cozby and Crosby are name variants particular to a line in Charles Cosby’s Virginia family.

Cosbey is a name variant particular to a family in Northern Ireland.

From Leicestershire, in the 11th century, Lincolnshire during the Plantagenet era and Nottinghamshire during the Tudor era.

Cosby is an English locative name from Cosby (Leics). 

• It originated as a habitational name from a place in Leicestershire named Cosby, from an Old English personal name Cossa + Old Norse býr ‘farm’, ‘settlement’[1]
• An important Anglo-Irish family in Co. Leix since the sixteenth century.[2]

[1] Hanks, Patrick. (2003) Dictionary of American Family Names. Cosby. DOI: 10.1093/acref/9780195081374.001.0001 : accessed 07 March 2020. 

[2] MacLysaght, Edward. (1985) The Surnames of Ireland. 6^th ed. Dublin: Irish Academic Press Limited. p. 60.

Notable family members from DNA Group 1 include:

• Francis Cosby (1510-80): Born in Great Leake, Nottinghamshire, England.  He settled at Stradbally, Queens County, Ireland during the Tudor conquest of Leinster.

  • A grandson, Richard, produced a wave of emigrants in the early 1700’s. They included sailors, soldiers, government officials and merchant adventurers. Brothers and cousins, they travelled and served together in different countries. They were very mobile and may have left descendants in many countries including Canada, Australia, India and the Caribbean.

• William Cosby (1685-1736): Governor of New York and New Jersey (1732-36). Bound as an apprentice by his older brother, this William Cosby had his heart set on joining the army at an early age and prevailed against the wishes of his parents. He distinguished himself at a siege of Tournai and was made a lieutenant for his bravery and courage. He caught the attention of a mentor who sent him to Utrecht for an education. As a Colonel with the 18th Irish Regiment, he served in Minorca, Gibraltar, the Leeward Islands, and was Governor of New York and New Jersey from 1732 until his death at Fort George, New York in 1736;

  • His daughter eloped with Lord Augustus Fitzroy and bore two sons from which the Dukes of Grafton have descended since that time.
    • Her great-grandson, Robert Fitzroy, Captain of HMS Beagle, hired Charles Darwin as his Naturalist.

• Alexander Cosby (1682-1743): Lt Gov, Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia (1739-1742:  Brother to William (noted above). This Alexander was apprenticed to a merchant but ran away to sea after “indiscretions with his master’s wife”. Whilst at sea, he was apprehended by Spaniards who gave him the choice of either “walking the plank” or being left on a deserted island. Choosing the island, he flagged down a rescue ship one week later and was reunited with his family. He obtained a commission in the army and was commanded to Annapolis, Nova Scotia later becoming Lt Governor of the garrison at Fort Anne. He left a legacy of mischief and strife and a son;
  
  • Admiral Phillips Cosby (1726-10 Jan 1828): The first "Canadian-born" British Admiral born Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia.  He was with General James Wolfe at Quebec in 1759 and accompanied his body back to England.   He is said to have been present with the Duke of Grafton (his uncle) when Napoleon offered his services to the British Army and was declined.  Phillips is buried at Bath Abbey with members of Sir Henry Augustus Montague Cosby's  family.   His monument is currently being restored.

• Alexander Cosby (c. 1716-1759): As a solider, he was sent to India by the Directors of the East India Company on a mission to reorganize the company’s troops. He served with Lawrence Stringer (1697-1775), Founder of the Indian Army. Alexander died at Surat age 39 and left a son;

  • Sir Henry Augustus Montague Cosby (1743-1822): Henry was born in Minorca where his father was stationed. He first saw service as a volunteer in the army at the age of 13. At about the age of 17, he distinguished himself by saving the life of the major commanding H.M.'s 79th regiment, who offered him an ensigncy in his regiment, which he refused. He was knighted for his services at the age of 40. He left a number of children, some of whom never left India.  He also has descendants in Australia.

Notable family members from DNA Group 2 include:

• George Cosby (c. 1759-65; d. 1806): Born in “the Jerseys” or “The Province of New York”, George  served 4 years in the 2nd Battalion of (Rogers’s) King’s Rangers (1780-84), headquartered at St. John’s, Quebec during the American War of Independence.  In 1787 he appeared in Niagara (Ontario, Canada) and petitioned for a land grant as compensation for his military service.

• Great Britain frequency 1881: 240
• Main Great Britian location 1881: Northants and Beds; Middx and Essex
• Main Irish location 1847-64: Down; Laois

1   Hanks, Patrick, Coates, Richard and McClure, Peter. (2016) Cosby. In: The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Early bearers:

• Thoma de Cosby, 1379 in Poll Tax (Rothley, Leics)¹;
• Thoms. Cozby, 1562 (Spalding, Lincs) ²;
• Robert Cosbye, 1586 (Lowdham, Notts)³;
• Nicolaus Cosbie, 1589 (Derby, Derbys)⁴;
• Richard Cosbie, 1606 (Cadeby, Leics)⁵.

1  Fenwick, C. C., ed. (1998–2005). The Poll Taxes of 1377, 1379 and 1381 (3 volumes). Records of Social and Economic History New Series 27, 29, 37. Oxford: British Academy.

Distribution of the surname COSBY (and variants COSBEY, COSBIE) in the 1901 and 1911 Ireland census records:

Big-Y DNA results reveal four distinct male lines that are related only by surname.  People within each group share a common male ancestor but the groups do not share a common male ancestor:

Group 1: The Stradbally Cosby Family. There are no Y-DNA matches to the one person in this group who has solid documentation back to Francis Cosby (1510-1580).

Group 2: The Cosby/Cozby/McCloskey Group. This group includes all the male descendants of George Cosby (c. 1759-1806) who has been in Canada since 1784 and a Cozby line of descended from John Cozby (c. 1713-1793) and Elizabeth Trimble whose family was in North and South Carolina. 

Group 3: The colonial Cosbys of  Virginia. This group includes descendants of John Cosby who died 1695 in Hampton Parish, York County, Virginia.  Big-Y DNA establishes there is no connection to the Stradbally Cosby family. 

Group 4: The Cosbeys of Northern Ireland. This line has been in Ireland for at least five generations.

If you are a member of Group 2 or 3, these articles will be of interest to you:  "McCluskeys in Disguise" - The McCluskey/Cosby Connection by Wendy Cosby and Cosby and Cozby of Colonial Virginia by Howell Cosby Curtis.

Images: Engraving. Admiral Philips Cosby (1726-1808). circa 1800. Robinson (artist). William Ridley, Engraver. Joyce Gold, Publisher.