It makes it easier to trace and find records when the name is a little unusual but also difficult because of the various spellings used The earliest record of this family is found in a list of names of subscribers to a loan raised in 1589, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, to defray expenses incurred during the arming of the country at the time of the threatened Spanish Armada. The name there appears as Phillips, as it also does in the official list of High Sheriffs for co. Sligo, as , late as 1716, where Mathew Phibbs, of Templevaney, is styled Mathew Phillips. Of this family, two brothers came over to Ireland, as soldiers, about 1590. From records now existing in Trin. Coll. Dublin, they are found on half-pay, 1616 and 1619, under the name of Phipps, a name that some of the younger branches of the family resumed about 1765. Of these two, William settled in co. Cork, in the south-west of which county the name still remains as Ffibbs. DH _____________________________________________________ FERMANAGH-GOLD The name Phibbs Date: Thu, 24 Mar 2016 21:45:29 +1100 A name which was used for three generations in the Cowan family was Phibbs. A Christopher McGregor listed in the 1766 religious census in Drumall had a daughter by Jane Arsdell (1763-1840) named Sidney McGregor (circa 1800-). She married Robert Cowan (1777-1836) and they had a son named Phibbs Alexander Cowan born at Clonkeen. Phibbs Alexander Cowan migrated to Australia in 1854. He settled near Wollongong and purchased land at Broughton Creek. Phibbs married Mary Jane James (1835 - 1889) and they had a son named Charles Phibbs Alexander Cowan (1869 - 1942). He died in Port Kembla. Makes it interesting when you see the same name go through generations. Also of course makes it easier to trace and find records when the name is a little unusual. Pia. --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus