Daily AncestorGlebe
A glebe was land set aside to support a parish minister, who could farm it, live on it or rent it out.
The word goes back through French to the Latin for a clod of earth. The land might be owned by the church, or its profits reserved to the church, and it could include the parsonage house.
In colonial Virginia, parishes held glebes for their ministers, and two parishes sharing one minister might share one glebe. Glebe land turns up as a landmark in deeds and surveys, as in adjoining the glebe.
As seen in a recordVirginia deed or survey, 1700s
100 acres adjoining the glebe of St. Mark's Parish
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Glebe." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/church/glebe. Last checked 2026-10-03.