Posted by Gary Leece on March 02, 19102 at 08:37:04:
In Reply to: Leece family history posted by Betty Leece Gillespie on April 24, 19101 at 14:25:45:
: I am looking for ancestors with the Leece/ Leese/Lease surname
The family name has its known origins in the area of Lancashire England which ( confusingly ) is now in Cumbria...the county boundary was changed in 1974.The village of Leece is just a few miles from the town of Barrow-in-Furness.Some authorities claim an Irish origin of the name,but this is unlikely.There is a possible Norman/French connection from the word LECE which is best translated as "joy".Medieval evidence and the location suggest:"Dweller by the woodland".