Lamonby

This is a surname of ancient origins from the county of Cumberland. It originates from a village called 'Lamonby' about seven miles from Penrith, the village itself being recorded in the charter rolls of Cumberland for the year 1267, although the surname is much later. The village name probably translates as 'the farm (bi) of Lambin', the latter being an Olde English personal diminutive name from the pre 7th century. Locational surnames form the largest group of British surnames, and many were created when the original tenants were driven off their lands under the Enclosure Acts of the 15th to the 18th century, and forced to seek work and salvation elsewhere. In these cases they took or were given by their new neighbours, as easy identification, the name of their former home. Until the later 19th century spelling was problematical and dialects were very 'thick', this lead to some extraordinary variations of the surname spelling. With this surname the recordings include Lambeneby, Lammonby, and Lamanby, but all remain recognisable spellings. Early examples of the church recordings include Magdellena Lamonby, christened at Dalston, Cumbria on June 19th 1614, 'Dalston' being the epicentre of the surname, and John Lamonby of Carlisle, on August 4th 1735. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Jhon Lammonby, which was dated August 27th 1599, married Alice Talmin at Dalston, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1st, known as 'Good Queen Bess', 1558 - 1603. 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.