This is for Mahalo and Kevin and anyone else interested in the Philbrick families of Hampton. According to Blomfield (Hist. of Norfolk, vol. 8, p. 89), the family of Felbrigge of Felbrigge, near Comer in Norfolk, descended from Simon le Bigod, youngest son of Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk (died in 1224/5), and his wife Maud, daughter of William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke. Simon married Maud, daughter and heiress of Richard de Felbrigge of Felbrigge, and their descendants took the name of Felbrigge or Fylbrigge from their manor. Roger, son of Simon and Maud, occurs in 14 Edward I (1286/7) as "Roger Bigod de Felbrigge" (Blomfield, op. cit.). The Felbrigges long continued as a prominent knightly house at Felbrige and cadet branches established themselves in the neighboring counties of Huntingdon and Suffolk, and it is quite likely that the Bures family derived from the same stock. The Felbrigges do not appear in Bures until the first quarter of the sixteenth century, but in the neighboring Essex parish of Earls Colne (three miles from Bures) we find a Felbrigge family established early in the fifteenth century, and there can be little doubt that the Bures family descended from them. A century earlier, in 14 Edward I (1285/6, a Lawrence de Felbrigge was murdered outside of Bures (Assize Roll 833, m.43, Placita Coronae 14 Edward I), so it would appear that the family were in and about Earls Colne and Bures at this date. In view of the early date at which they appear here, it would seem that perhaps the Earls Colne family descended from a cadet of the earlier family whose heiress married Simon Bigod. It is also possible that their ancestor may have been a free tenant at Felbrigge and that he took the name when he went south into Suffolk and Northern Essex. In any event, the origin of the Earl Colne and Bures Felbrigges still remains uncertain. (Source: NEHGR, Vol. 108, 1954, pp. 252-253) Maryellen Mcanfora@aol.com