Embra

This interesting surname is believed to be of Olde English origins. If so it is locational from a place in North Devon near Honiton, called Hembury Fort. It is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Henberia", and in the Charter Rolls of 1227 as Hembiri. The origination of this place name is from the Olde English pre 7th Century "Hea- burg", meaning the "high fort". Hembury Fort is a large earthwork, situated circa 900 feet above the sea, and believed to be of Ancient British origin. In the modern idiom, the spellings include Hemburrow, Hembery, Hembrow, Hembergh and the dialectals Embra, Ember, Embery, Embury, and others. Examples of the early recordings include Margery Embry, christened at St Giles Cripplegate, London, on March 16th 1614, Thomas Hembery who was christened on May 27th 1656 at Clyst St. George, Devon, Robert Hemburrow of Huntsham, Tiverton, Devon, on October 17th 1717, and Thomas Embury, who married Elizabeth Rickman at St Georges Chapel, Mayfair, London, on July 22nd 1751. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John de Hembure, which was dated 1273, in the rolls of Somerset known as 'Kirby's Quest', during the reign of King Edward 1, known as 'The hammer of the Scots' 1272 - 1307. 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.