Dorber

This most unusual name is of early medieval English, but with French origins. It is job descriptive for a builder or plasterer, one who specialised in using wattle and daub. The surname derives from the Middle English verb "dauben", meaning to coat with a layer of plaster, itself from the Old French "dauber". Medieval dwellings and walls were commonly built with wattle and daub, the "wattles" consisting of upright stakes with the spaces between, filled with interwoven small branches. Both sides of this foundation were then "daubed" with earth or clay, and the surfaces smoothed and usually treated with plaster or a coat of whitewash. As a trade, daubing was similar to "pargetting" or plastering. At Corfe Castle, Dorset, in 1285 there is a reference to "Stephen the Dauber who pargetted the long chamber". The modern surname forms range from Dauber, Dawber and Daber, to Dorber, Doorbar, Dober and Doberer, and examples from early church registers include: Thomas Dorebar (1589, Hertfordshire); Thomas Doarbarre (1603, London); and Elizabeth Dorbur (1617, ibid.). The christening of John, son of Richard Dorber, was recorded at St. James the Apostle, Dover, Kent, on November 21st 1596. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Hugo Daubur, which was dated 1219, witness in the "Assize Court Rolls of Yorkshire", during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.