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Land patent to Thomas Dyas & others, 1684, Nansemond County, Virginia

Land patent to Thomas Dyas & others, 1684, Nansemond County, Virginia

Posted: 17 Aug 2003 2:50AM GMT
Classification: Deed
Edited: 17 Aug 2005 2:21PM GMT
Surnames: Dyas, Price
I am not researching the Dyas surname; however, I have come across an abstract of a Land Patent issued to Walter Price & Thomas Dyas in Nansemond County, Virginia. The patent was issued 26 Apr 1684 in Patent Book 7, page 392. I found this abstract in "Cavaliers and Pioneers; Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, Volume Two." Most libraries have this series of books. Happy hunting!

Re: Land patent to Thomas Dyas & others, 1684, Nansemond County, Virginia

Posted: 17 Aug 2003 8:37AM GMT
Classification: Query
Edited: 27 Nov 2004 8:59PM GMT
Surnames: Dice, Dyce, Dysse, Dyse, Dise, Dyesse, Banks, Pask, Swain, Bryan, O'Brien, Clemmet/t, Howard,Norman, Hull, Gooding, Lee, Cooke, Swaby, Scarlett, Nottle, Hills, Juniper, Sampson etc
Hello Juli,

I'm researching the English Dice/ Dyce/Disse/Dysse/Dyse/Dyesse, Dycs etc family - and have found a George Dycs, who sailed to Virginia aboard the Constance Clement Campion in 1634. Spellings at this time were very variable, as you can see from some of the variants above, so its possible that George was one on my lot. I know that the ship arrived safely but don't know whether or not George did. A number of my lot lived in Essex, England during this period. The old Essex pronounciation of my family name was very like Dyas. Do you have any ideas where your Dyas's came from prior to their migration to America? One obvious origin is Portugal or Spain, but is there any indication that they may have originated from England?

Colleen

Re: Land patent to Thomas Dyas & others, 1684, Nansemond County, Virginia

Art Pratt (View posts)
Posted: 18 Aug 2003 1:45AM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Dyas

My Dyas ancestors came from Ireland sometime prior to 1870 and wound up in Illinois with first child born in that state. Not many by that name are found in Ireland so have had limited sucess in searching for additional background information.

Re: Land patent to Thomas Dyas & others, 1684, Nansemond County, Virginia

Posted: 18 Aug 2003 6:45PM GMT
Classification: Query
Edited: 27 Nov 2004 8:59PM GMT
Surnames: Dice, Dyce, Dysse, Dyse, Dise, Dyesse, Banks, Pask, Swain, Bryan, O'Brien, Clemmet/t, Howard,Norman, Hull, Gooding, Lee, Cooke, Swaby, Scarlett, Nottle, Hills, Juniper, Sampson etc
Hello Art,

I've seen references to the small group of Dyases in Ireland and have wondered if they might be related to the equally small group of Dices there, the names can be so similar in prounounciation, especially with an old regional accent. And spelling variants were so common a few hundred years ago. My intuitive feeling about the Irish Dyases and the Dices is that they (or perhaps a single ancestor of both families) must have migrated to Ireland at some time in the not too distant past. There are surely just too few of either line for them to have been estabished families in Ireland - unless, of course, they are the last vestiges of old families that are on the verge of dying out in Ireland.

For hundreds of years, many of my Dices lived in and around Tolleshunt D'Arcy in the Blackwater district of Essex, England - I'm sure I've seen Dyases in that district too. The name of Tolleshunt D'Arcy derives from the combination of the the original Tollesfunta (Tolle's fountain) name with D'Arcy, the surname of the lords of the manor of the village until about the 15th or 16th century. The D'Arcys are known to have some connection with Ireland, I think they owned land there as well as in Essex - and it was by no means unusual for landowners to send labourers from one part of their estate to another - could this be how the Dices and Dyases end up in Ireland? If I remember correctly, the last D'Arcy to own land in Tolleshunt D'Arcy - Brian or Thomas - had only daughters. When he died his estate was split between them and sold off. I think one of those girls may have gone to Ireland and she may well have taken a few servants, or skilled people with her - the Dices were outstanding horsemen and grooms.

Some time after 1829, some of the Irish Dices migrate (back?) to England. One of them, John Dice, was a sea captain born in Waterford, Ireland in 1829. His father appears to have worked on the estate of Lord Reay in Waterford, Hertfordshire, England - there has to be a connection between the two Waterfords and Lord Reay must have had Irish connections with a name like that. Whether there was a connection between the D'Arcys and the Reays I don't know, but my guess is that there might be one.
But there does appear to be a possible Irish/English link between the Dyases and the Dices.

However, I could be totally wrong about a possible connection between these two families, your Dyases may be of hispanic, Dutch or Jewish origin, perhaps - or could even be a migrant member of the Portuguese Jews named Dyas who lived in London.

Do you have any distingushing family traits that might provide a clue?

Colleen

Re: Land patent to Thomas Dyas & others, 1684, Nansemond County, Virginia

Art Pratt (View posts)
Posted: 25 Aug 2003 9:57AM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Dyas
Colleen, Nothing out of the ordinary for myself or my brothers. One thing, my GM, nee Dyas was a short stocky woman - this I know from several pictures taken by 1915. I always wondered if the original Dyas in Ireland was maybe a survivor of the Spanish Armada. Thanks for the info, though. Art

Re: Land patent to Thomas Dyas & others, 1684, Nansemond County, Virginia

Posted: 25 Aug 2003 11:29AM GMT
Classification: Query
Hello Art,

I haven't seen any documentation of any Armada survivors who settled in Ireland, have you? Though if there's no documentation, that doesn't mean anything, too little survives from that period for it to be of any significance.

What I have seen, however, is evidence of a community of Portuguese Jews named Dyas llving in London from at least the early 19th century. Many were cloth workers, working in the sweat shops that existed in the city at that time. Its known that Jews came to Britain as early as the Roman period, a few thousand years ago. The Romans brought them from various parts of their empire to act as money lenders, apparently. I've read that, when the Roman empire began to fall apart, around 400 BC, I think, the Romans became reluctant to pay their debts and the Jews were persecuted - causing some to flee to other, nearby parts of Europe, in particular, Holland, France and Germany. Once the Romans had gone, the Jews returned to Britain - though they were intermittantly subject to persecution at and would have to take refuge elsewhere at times. Some changed their religion and became non conformists - and it may well be that they were among the persecuted non conformists who migrated to the New World of America during the 17th century from Britain and Europe.

You will know that the English county of Essex was the cradle of colonisation, large numbers of the Founding Fathers and early settlers came from here - largely, I think, because non conformist religion had such a grip in this county and non conformist dissneters were dreadfully persecuted here. Many of America's early great and good, like Captain Christopher Jones, the Argalls, The Vanes, William Penn, the Pynchons were Essex people. George Washington's Gt Gt (forget how many greats!) grandfather is buried in a churchyard in Maldon, Essex. Even President Bush's ancestors were Essex people - from the village of Messing, where a lot of my ancestors came from.

Colleen

Re: Land patent to Thomas Dyas & others, 1684, Nansemond County, Virginia

Posted: 5 Sep 2010 12:56AM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: DICE/DYCE
Looking for information on a William DICE born about 1799 in Tennessee according to the 1850 Sping Creek, Phillips, Arkansas, USA. Enumerated as W Dice, age 48, Farmer, Tennessee, Living in household of Susan M. Harris, age 52, Virginia, also living in household, William B Harris, Arch H Harris, Dolly Ann Harris, Susan Dice, 36, Elizabeth Dice, 26, and Mary S Dice, 3, All Tennessee.

He married Unknown and had a son, Jasper DICE, born about 1838 in Tennessee and died about 1865, it is believed, in the Civil War. Jasper married Mary Eveline SEATON, born about 1845 Tennessee.

He married 2nd: Margaret CLABOUGH 8 Jan 1854 Phillips County, Arkansas, USA. They had two known children, Martha born 1854 and Missouri born 1856, both in Arkansas.

He married 3rd: Elisabeth (NeeUnknown), widow of Joseph RANSOM, before 1862 (no marriage license found). They had one known child: Robert DICE, born about 1862 in Arkansas.

My father’s surname was changed from DICE to DYCE by the government when he joined the Navy.

I've seen the name listed as DICE, DIE, DISE and DYCE in records.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Renee’
thegenseeker@lycos.com

Re: Land patent to Thomas Dyas & others, 1684, Nansemond County, Virginia

Posted: 6 Aug 2011 8:04AM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: DYAS, PIGOTT, PEARCE
There was a DYAS family who lived in Co Meath, Ireland. William DYAS had a son David DYAS, said by descendants to have been born at Kells, Co Meath, ca 1787.
David DYAS married, probably in Dublin, about 1809, Frances PIGOTT, and they had 4 children born in Ireland before emigrating to America in 1817.
It is alleged that they were "forced" to emigrate to avoid prosecution for breaches of anti-popery statutes, in particular, it is said, for assisting a Catholic Priest through the Irish countryside. He must have been a meddlesome Priest to have caused his "helpers" to risk ending up in court.
Another side to this somewhat implausible story is the assertion that Frances PIGOTT had been a "Lady-in-Waiting" to the wife of George III, & had used her connections to the Queen to evade the authorities and make good their escape.
Although the 4 Dyas children born in Ireland did carry a swag of Royal names among them - including William, Frederick, George, Catherine, Sophia & Amelia - not that that would have been all that uncommon at the time.
But I remain sceptical.

The DYAS family firstly resided in Virginia, then moved to St Louis, Missouri, before settling in Bellevue, Iowa. There are numbers of descendants living in the U.S. today.

My own interest is in Frances PIGOTT - she named her second son John Pigott DYAS, which suggests that may be the as yet undiscovered name of her father, probably Irish. She had three siblings who also went to America between 1817 & 1820 - brothers John & William PIGOTT, & sister Gertrude (later Mrs PEARCE), who all settled in St Louis, Missouri.

Chris PIGOTT, Potts Point, N.S.W.
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