First found in Gloucestershire where they were seated from early times and their first records appeared on the census rolls taken by the ancient Kings of Britain to determine the rate of taxation of their subjects.

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that shrouded England made the far away New World an attractive prospect. On cramped disease-ridden ships, thousands migrated to those British colonies that would eventually become Canada and the United States. Those hardy settlers that survived the journey often went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Sainsbury or a variant listed above: Suzan Sainsbury, a servant sent to Barbados in 1659; Ann Sainsbery, who settled in Maryland in 1673; John Sainsbury, who was deported to America in 1761.

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