Stansbury

This most interesting name of English origin, is a habitational name from "Stanbury", a parish in the Oakworth urban district of Yorkshire, and a hamlet near Morwenstow in Cornwall. The placename in Yorkshire appears as "Stainburg" in the Feet of Fines of 1235 and "Stanbiri" in the Charter Rolls of 1249. The name derives from the Olde English pre 7th Century elements "stan", stone and "burg", a fort, hence a stone fort or a fort built on stony soil. In some instances, the surname may have derived from "Stainborough" a parish and village near Barnsley, in Yorkshire, which was composed of the same elements as the former place mentioned above. Elizabeth Stansbury was christened at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster, London in 1670 and Samuel Foord married Annas Stansbury in 1675 at St. Mary's, St. Marylebone Road, London. A Coat of Arms was granted to Richard Stanberry of Morwinstowe, Cornwall, which depicts a black lion rampant on a shield divided diagonally blue and gold. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Thomas de Staynburghe which was dated 1379, in the "Poll Tax Records of Yorkshire", during the reign of King Richard 11, known as "Richard of Bordeaux", 1377 - 1399. 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.