Colby, Norfolk

Colby is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is 8.6 mi south of Cromer, 16.8 mi north-north-west of Norwich, 5.2 mi west-north-west of North Walsham and 131 mi north-east of London.

Name
Colby is first mentioned in the Domesday Book as Colebei in 1086.

Colby's name is from Old Norse for Koli′s bý "farmstead or village", the personal name Koli being specifically Old Danish, a variant form of Old Norse Kolr.

Note : English place-names in -by corresponds to Norman place-names in -ville "farmstead, village" with a personal name of Old Scandinavian origin. Therefore, Colby is similar to the numerous Collevilles (former Colevilla "Colevile"), such as Colleville-Montgomery, Colleville-sur-Mer, etc.

History
In the Domesday Book, Colby is recorded as a settlement of 21 households in the hundred of South Erpingham. In 1086, the village formed part of the East Anglian estates of King William I.

Geography
In the 2011 Census, Colby was recorded as a having 494 residents living in 213 households.

Colby falls within the constituency of North Norfolk and is represented at Parliament by Duncan Baker MP of the Conservative Party.

St. Giles' Church
Colby's parish church is of Norman origin and is dedicated to Saint Giles.

Notable residents

 * Jack van Poortvliet – Leicester Tigers and England rugby union player

War memorial
Colby's war memorial is located inside St. Giles' Church and lists the following names for the First World War:
 * Second-Lieutenant Reginald A. Sarsby (1893–1915), 10th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment
 * Pioneer Charles H. Lee (1892–1918), Royal Engineers
 * Private Stanley A. Jordan (d.1918), 15th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment
 * Private Frederick Doughty (1893–1917), Hertfordshire Regiment
 * Private Stanley H. Rouse (1899–1918), 2nd (City of London) Battalion, London Regiment
 * Private William E. Daniels (d.1915), 2/6th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment
 * Private Frederick J. Matthews (1896–1915), 7th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment
 * Private Cecil H. Burdett (1895–1916), 8th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment
 * Private Bertie H. Lown (1898–1917), 8th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment
 * Private Alfred E. Turner (1886–1916), 9th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment
 * Private Arthur W. Cooper (1892–1918), 7th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment
 * Private D'Arcy W. W. Hardingham (1899-1918), 13th Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment

And, the following for the Second World War:
 * Corporal Edward L. Hall (1922–1943), 5th Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment
 * Private Sidney Hudson (1920–1944), 2nd Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment