Cumbes

This unusual name is a variant of the more commonly found surname "Coombe(s)", and is in fact closer to its Anglo-Saxon origin, which is the Old English pre 7th Century word "cumb", a short, straight valley, coomb, or deep hollow. As a surname "Coombe(s) or Cumbe(s)", where the "s" means "of" the valley, is either locational from any one of the numerous places named with the Old English "Cumb", an early form of the Celtic (Welsh) "Cwm", a deep valley, or it can be topographical and as such denoted residence in or by such a valley. The places named with "Coomb" are common in the West and South West of English, where there are many valleys of the coomb type. Topographical surnames were among the earliest created, since both natural and man made features in the landscape provided easily recognisable distinguishing names in the small communities of the Middle Ages. Elizabeth Cumbes was married to John Warfard on the 15th April 1583, at St. Dunstan's, Stepney, in London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard de la Cumbe, which was dated 1194, in the "Fines Court Records of Sussex", during the reign of King Richard 1, known as "The Lionheart", 1189 - 1199. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.