Wasbrough History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The name Wasbrough was brought to England by the Normans when they conquered the country in 1066. The ancestors of the Wasbrough family lived at Washbourne in Devon. 1 The Domesday Book lists the village as Waseborne 2 and literally meant "stream used for washing (sheep or clothes.)" 3

Alternatively, the name could have originated at Washburn, in Yorkshire or at Great Washbourne or Little Washbourne, parishes in Gloucestershire. 4 The Gloucestershire parishes actually date back to Saxon times when they were collectively known as Uassanburnan in 780. By the time of the Domesday Book both were known Waseborne. 2

Early Origins of the Wasbrough family

The surname Wasbrough was first found in Devon where it is related the family took their name from Waseborne, now Wasbourne in that county soon after the Norman Conquest in 1066. This village was granted to Hermer from Gotshelm. 1

By the end of the 11th century they had branched to Worcestershire where they became a family great consequence. They were generations of knights at the Manor at the Washbournes intermarring with the distinguished families of Zouch, Corbett, Wysham, Blount and the Earls of Warwick. Sir Roger Washbourne is the first on record.

Early rolls reveal Williara de Wasseburn listed in the Pipe Rolls for Worcestershire in 1204. John Washburn was found in the Subsidy Rolls for Worcestershire c. 1280 and William de Wasshebourn was found in the Feet of Fines for Yorkshire in 1333. 1

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 list William de Wassebourn in Huntingdonshire and Anthony Washbourne from Worcestershire was registered at Oxford University (no date given.) 5

Early History of the Wasbrough family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Wasbrough research. Another 126 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1598, 1599, 1606, 1616, 1631, 1654, 1687, 1759, 1760, 1824, 1829 and 1833 are included under the topic Early Wasbrough History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Wasbrough Spelling Variations

It is only in the last few hundred years that the English language has been standardized. For that reason, Anglo-Norman surnames like Wasbrough are characterized by many spelling variations. Scribes and monks in the Middle Ages spelled names they sounded, so it is common to find several variations that refer to a single person. As the English language changed and incorporated elements of other European languages such as Norman French and Latin, even literate people regularly changed the spelling of their names. The variations of the name Wasbrough include Washbourne, Washburn, Washborne, Washborn and others.

Early Notables of the Wasbrough family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was William Washbourne, High Sheriff of Montgomeryshire in 1631; and Thomas Washbourne (1606-1687), an English clergyman and poet, Canon of Gloucester, best known for his 1654 book Divine Poems. "He was younger son of John Washbourne of Wichenford, Worcestershire. The Washbourne family had been settled in Gloucestershire for several centuries. " 6John Washbourn (1760?-1829), was a local historian, son of John Washbourn (d. 1824?) and was descended from an ancient Gloucestershire family (Burke...
Another 80 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Wasbrough Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Wasbrough migration to the United States +

Faced with the chaos present in England at that time, many English families looked towards the open frontiers of the New World with its opportunities to escape oppression and starvation. People migrated to North America, as well as Australia and Ireland in droves, paying exorbitant rates for passages in cramped, unsafe ships. Many of the settlers did not make the long passage alive, but those who did see the shores of North America were welcomed with great opportunity. Many of the families that came from England went on to make essential contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America carried the name Wasbrough, or a variant listed above:

Wasbrough Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Mary Wasbrough, who landed in Virginia in 1658 7

Citations +

Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Smith, Eldson Coles, New Dictionary of American Family Names New York: Harper & Row, 1956. Print
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
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)