First found in Sussex where they were a very noble Anglo Saxon family of very ancient standing in that county.

To escape the unstable social climate in England of this time, many families boarded ships for the New World with the hope of finding land, opportunity, and greater religious and political freedom. Although the voyages were expensive, crowded, and difficult, those families that arrived often found greater opportunities and freedoms than they could have experienced at home. Many of those families went on to make significant contributions to the rapidly developing colonies in which they settled. Early North American records indicate many people bearing the name Ashburn were among those contributors: Edward Ashburham, settled in Virginia in 1653; Francis Ashborn settled in Virginia in 1635; Joseph Ashburn arrived in Annapolis in 1724; William Ashburne settled in Virginia in 1773. In Newfoundland, two brothers were captured by pirates and landed in Newfoundland, and many more..

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