Albone

This unusual and interesting name is a variant form of the more familiar surname Alban, which derives from the male given name "Alban", itself from the Latin "Albanus", originally an ethnic name from the many places in Italy and elsewhere called Alba. The given name was popular in France, Germany, and Sweden, and in England where it was often bestowed in honour of St. Alban, the first British martyr (3rd or 4th Century). The surname was first recorded in the mid 13th Century (see below), and the development of the surname includes: Adam Albon (1275, Worcestershire); Hugh Alybon (1297, Derbyshire); William Albone (1376, Gloucestershire); and William Albanes (1379, Yorkshire). The modern surname has a variety of forms, these include: Alban, Albon, Albone, Allbon, Allbones, Alabone, Allebone, Alliban, Allibon, Allibone and Aubon. The modern placename, St. Albans is recorded as "Seynt Albones" in 1421. Recordings from London Church Registers include the marriage of William Albone and Margarett Alett at St. Margaret Moses, on February 25th 1587. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Walter Alban, which was dated 1250, in the "Book of Fees of Buckinghamshire", during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. 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.