Show ContentsFurbie History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Early Origins of the Furbie family

The surname Furbie was first found in Lincolnshire where John de Ferieby was listed in the Curia Regis Rolls of 1212. Later, William de Feriby was listed in Berkshire in 1301 and Wylliam Feraby was listed in the Subsidy Rolls for Suffolk in 1524. 1

South Ferriby is a parish, in the union of Glandford-Brigg, N. division of the wapentake of Yarborough, parts of Lindsey, in Lincolnshire and North Ferriby is a parish, in the county of the town of Hull, union of Sculcoates, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. "A priory of Knights Templars founded here by Lord Eustace de Vesci, of Bromfleet, was, at the suppression of that order, converted into a priory of Augustine canons. " 2

Early History of the Furbie family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Furbie research. Another 130 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1106, 1432, 1455, 1487, 1510, 1573, 1589, 1591, 1592, 1595, 1600 and 1613 are included under the topic Early Furbie History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Furbie Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Furbie family name include Fereby, Ferby, Furby, Ferbie, Furbie, Fearby, Fearbie, Fireby, Firby and many more.

Early Notables of the Furbie family

Distinguished members of the family include George Ferebee, or Feribye, or Ferrabee (fl. 1613), an English composer from Gloucestershire. He was the son of a Gloucestershire yeoman, was born about 1573, and matriculated at Oxford 25 Oct. 1589, aged 16. " He was a chorister of Magdalen College until 1591. He was admitted B.A. 1592, licensed to be M.A. 9 July 1595, and became vicar of Bishop's Cannings, Wiltshire. Wood relates how Ferebe found and ingeniously made use of an opportunity to display his...
Another 83 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Furbie Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States Furbie migration to the United States +

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Furbie surname or a spelling variation of the name include:

Furbie Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • Elizabeth Furbie, who arrived in Maryland in 1668 3


  1. Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
  2. Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
  3. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)


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