Dawby

Recorded in many spelling forms including Dauby, Dawby, Dawbery, Dawberry and Dawbury, this is an English surname. It is locational and either originates from a now 'lost' medieval village possibly called ' Dalla's buri' or similar, and meaning 'Dalla's castle', with Dalla being an Olde English pre 7th century tribal name, or perhaps as one of the many variant forms of the famous French surname d'Aubeney, whose descendants came from St d'Aubiny in Normandy and who were members of the army of William, The Conqueror, in 1066. What we do know with this particular surname is that it has been recorded in English church registers since the reign of King Henry V111 (1510 - 1547), so it has been around a long time. The first recording that we have is that of Annys Dauby, a witness at the church of St Benet Fink, in the old city of London. This was on October 16th 1539, and consitutes one of the very first of all known recordings in church registers. These registers became compulsory in 1536, but it was two hundred year later before the edict reached churchs in outlying regions of the country! Other examples taken from the surviving registers of the diocese of Greater London, and showing some of the surname developments or misspellings over the centuries, include: Margaret Dawbury at St Giles Cripplegate on February 2nd 1603, Dorothie Daweberrie who married Charles Shelton at Hadley, Middlesex, on March 17th 1672, and William Dauberry, a witness at the church of St John the Evangelist, Nottinghill Gate, on July 10th 1846.