Newbury

Recorded in various spellings including Newbery, Newbury, Newborough and Newburgh, this is a surname of Anglo-Saxon origins. It is locational from any of the places called Newbury or Newborrow, from the Olde English pre 7th century word "neowe" meaning new, and the suffix "-burh", meaning a fortress or town. As examples Newbury in Berkshire, is recorded as "Neuberie", in the famous Domesday Book of 1086, Newburgh in the North Riding of Yorkshire and also in Lancashire, are recorded respectively as "Nou Burgo" in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire in 1199, and as "Neweburgh" in the Place Names list of Lancashire in 1431; whilst Newborough in Staffordshire, is recorded as "Neuboreg" in the Assize Court Rolls of that county in 1280. The surname first appears on record in the latter part of the 13th Century (see below), and one John de Newbury was recorded in Somerset, in 1327. Other recordings include that on January 8th 1599 of Avelin Newbury and George Holliers who were married at St. Margaret's, Westminster, and that on February 1st 1685, of Joseph Newberry of Exeter. He was on the list of convicted rebels bound for transportation to the Barbados after the Monmouth Rebellion of that year. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Henry de NeuburyThis was dated 1273, in the "Hundred Rolls of Buckinghamshire", during the reign of King Edward 1st of England, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.