Fech

Male
CPL
4 of 5

Discussion of the name

Fech and the variant Feg are currently regarded as most probably representing the Scandinavian word feigr ‘fated to die’, used initially as a masculine byname but by 1066 evidently adopted as a regular (if rare) personal name. The personal name appears in two place-names in the West Riding of Yorkshire, Fixby (Fechesbi in 1086: Yorks. SW:M12) and Fizergh (Fegesargh in the twelfth century) (PN Yorks. WR, III, 35; VI, 226), as well as being the names of two pre-Conquest landowners, one in Yorkshire and the other in western Mercia, an area of known Danish settlement under Cnut (1016–35). The name has not otherwise been recorded in PASE.

This solution for the name was first proposed by Ekwall (1918: 83); Fellows Jensen (1968: 81) has suggested that it was coined in England. Derivation from the Old Irish name Fíacc is less attractive, since that name occurs in DB Lincolnshire with the spelling Fyach (Fiacc 2), which points to a different vowel. Von Feilitzen seems to have marginally preferred the Old Irish derivation, and assigned the form Feche to a related OIr name, Fiacha, evidently unaware of the compelling grounds for indentifying Worcestershire Feche with the Shropshire Fech (1937: 250).

In view of the relatively consistent spellings the form Fech is used here.

The Phillimore edition renders the name Fech in Shropshire, Feche in Worcestershire, and Feigr in Yorkshire; Alecto uses Fech in Shropshire and Yorkshire, and Feche in Worcestershire.

Bibliography

Ekwall 1918: Eilert Ekwall, Scandinavians and Celts in the North-West of England (Lund, 1918) 

PN Yorks. WR: A. H. Smith, The Place-Names of the West Riding of Yorkshire, 8 vols, English Place-Name Society 30–37 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1961–3)

Forms of the name

Spellings in Domesday Book: Fech, Feg

Forms in modern scholarship:

  von Feilitzen head forms: Fech, Feche

  Phillimore edition: Fech, Feche, Feigr

  Alecto edition: Fech, Feche

Distribution map of property and lordships associated with this name in DB

List of property and lordships associated with this name in DB

Holder 1066

Shire Phil. ref. Vill DB Spelling Holder 1066 Lord 1066 Tenant-in-Chief 1086 1086 Subtenant Fiscal Value 1066 Value 1086 Value Conf. Show on Map
Shropshire 4,11,13 Baveney Fech Fech 'of Broc' - Roger, earl Ralph de Mortimer 0.25 0.25 0.15 A Map
Shropshire 6,3 Mawley Fech Fech 'of Broc' - Ralph de Mortimer - 0.25 0.00 0.00 A Map
Worcestershire 16,3 Broc Feche Fech 'of Broc' - Ralph de Mortimer - 0.50 0.50 1.00 A Map
Yorkshire 30W1 Kirkby Malham Fech Fech 'of Giggleswick' - Roger the Poitevin - 2.00 0.00 0.00 A Map
Yorkshire 30W1 Giggleswick Fech Fech 'of Giggleswick' - Roger the Poitevin - 4.00 0.00 0.00 A Map
Yorkshire 30W1 Litton Fech Fech 'of Giggleswick' - Roger the Poitevin - 6.00 0.00 0.00 A Map
Yorkshire 30W1 Stainforth Fech Fech 'of Giggleswick' - Roger the Poitevin - 3.00 0.00 0.00 A Map
Yorkshire 30W1 Rathmell Fech Fech 'of Giggleswick' - Roger the Poitevin - 2.00 0.00 0.00 A Map
Yorkshire 30W31 Langcliffe Feg Fech 'of Giggleswick' - Roger the Poitevin - 3.00 0.00 0.00 A Map
Totals

Sub-subtenant in 1086

Shire Phil. ref. Vill DB Spelling Holder 1066 Lord 1066 Tenant-in-Chief 1086 1086 Subtenant Fiscal Value 1066 Value 1086 Value Conf. Show on Map
Shropshire 4,11,13 Baveney Fech Alsige 'of Baveney' - Roger, earl Ralph de Mortimer 0.25 0.25 0.15 A Map
Shropshire 4,11,13 Baveney Fech Fech 'of Broc' - Roger, earl Ralph de Mortimer 0.25 0.25 0.15 A Map
Totals