Alibone

Recorded in many forms as shown below, this unusual and interesting surname is English but arguably of Roman origins. It derives from the male given name "Alban", itself from the Latin "Albanus", an ethnic name for a man from Alba, the capital of the earliest Roman kings. The given name was popular in France, Germany and Sweden, as well as England where it was often bestowed in honour of St. Alban, the first British martyr (3rd century a.d.). Various legends give the town of St. Albans in Hertfordshire as the birthplace and the place of execution of this saint. Early examples of the (sur)name recordings include Albanus filius Willelmi in the Curia Regis Rolls of Yorkshire in the year 1212, whilst Adam Albon is listed in the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire in 1275, and William Albone in the Calendar of Letter Books of the City of London in 1376. The surname has many spellings including Alban, Albone, Alabone, Alibone, Allibon, Allbone and Aubon. One of the earliest of the name in the New World was Alice Albon, who left the Port of London, aboard the ship "Hopewell", bound for New England in September 1635. A coat of arms granted to the family has the blazon of a green shield, a silver bend charged with three blue crosses formee fitchee, the crest being a bull's head. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Walter Alban. This was dated 1250, in the Buckinghamshire Book of Fees, during the reign of King Henry 111rd, known as "The Frenchman", 1216-1272. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as the Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.