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To search and discover  links between the first set of Norman families who ruled the fief of Ducey lands between 1100 A.D. to 1220 A.D. at the town of Ducey, France, and the subsequent migration of Ducyes, Ducies and Duceys … Continue reading →

Town of Ducey, Lower Normandy, France, C.P. 50220 Ducey is an attractive market town situated some 10 miles (17km)  south east of the area’s major attraction, Mont Saint-Michel.  Like much of Normandy, it dates back to Gallo-Roman days of the … Continue reading →

History tells us the town of Ducey dates back even earlier than Gallic – Roman days.  The north-west of Normandy was a battleground during much of its medieval existence, particularly during the Hundred Years War from 1337 to 1453, when … Continue reading →

There is no definitive conclusion about the origin of the name Ducey but there are two major, differing opinions: One has been handed down  by successive parish priests who served as local historians for the town of Ducey.  It suggests … Continue reading →

My translation of Mme. Houlbert’s section on the early history of Ducey and its first family of seigneurs is contained in the appendix on this website.  Despite additional searching, we have very little in the way of a complete story … Continue reading →

(Histories written in the mid- 19th century from early Latin records are often contradictory, therefore no guarantee of the accuracy of the following names and dates can be assured, although every effort has been made to confirm them using the … Continue reading →

Several early  peerage histories dealing with Sir Robert Ducie state that a Norman knight and a “Ducie” ancestor, whose first name still remains unknown, was among several Norman mercenaries who were enlisted in 1326, to raise troops and sail to … Continue reading →

1326                “The family came out of Normandy and had its estates in the County of Stafford from the time of Edward II, when —— Ducy, their ancestor, raised a regiment for Queen Isabel against that king, out of the Normans, … Continue reading →

Compared to medieval France and early Ireland, internet searching for Duceys in England is a welcome challenge, thanks to Britain’s deep  recorded history even though early original records were written in Latin .  As an example, partial records can be … Continue reading →

“O Dubhghusa:  The origin and meaning of the surname O Dubhghusa, Doocey, Doocie, Doocy, Ducey.  The name of a family in Ireland, traditionally found in counties Tipperary and Waterford.” ( Patrick Woulfe, Surnames of Ireland, 1923.)

The search here is more difficult than in France and England for several reasons: There are no “famous” Duceys among them, thus little of their largely agrarian lives in the 17th, 18th and early 19th century is recorded. Like most … Continue reading →

This project has taken shape over a year of research and writing, but it remains frustratingly incomplete.  Very little new information has been uncovered to flesh out the successors of the early ‘Seigneurs de Ducey,’ from the period 1120 – … Continue reading →

A translation excerpt from the French version of:  Ducey, a la recherche de son passé , par Valérie Houlbert (Ducey,Office de Tourisme de Ducey, 2007). Ducey, the research of its past ( The following first section of this book, dealing … Continue reading →

1326-27 “– — Ducey,”a Norman mercenary knight, who joins the invasion contingent of John of Hainault, is rewarded with lands in Staffordshire for raising a regiment to help Queen Isabella overthrow her unpopular husband, King Edward II of England. His … Continue reading →

1524– estimated birth, probably at Walsall, of Henry (2) Ducye, 2nd son of James (1), and a grandson of Henry (1). Unlike his wealthy father and brother (Richard, heir) he does not appear in any Walsall land records, suggesting that … Continue reading →