Weatherby History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
The Norman Conquest of England in 1066 brought much change to the island nation, including many immigrants with new names. Among these immigrants were the ancestors of the Weatherby family, who lived at Wetherby in West Yorkshire, a market town and civil parish within the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds. "The Saxon name of this town, whence the present is obviously deduced, was Wederbi, a term intended to designate its situation on a bend of the river Wharfe." 1 Today in the United States, there are two towns listed: Weatherby, Missouri; and Weatherby Lake, Missouri
Early Origins of the Weatherby family
The surname Weatherby was first found in West Yorkshire where one of the first records was of Ivo de Werreby in 1214; and Richard de Wetherby in 1302. 2 Later the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 listed Robertas de Wethirby as living there at that time. 3
Conjecturally the Wetherby family are descended from Ralph of Intwood, who held the lands and village of Intwood from Eudo, Steward to William the Conqueror. Intwood consisted of a church, a mill, nine horses, and thirty sheep, as recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086. 4
Wetherby is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Wedrebi, thought to derive from wether- or ram-farm or else meaning "settlement on the bend of a river". 5 Local folklore has it that when heavy snow storms hit the county, Wetherby does not get as much because the "Weather Goes By."
Early History of the Weatherby family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Weatherby research. Another 77 words (6 lines of text) covering the year 1461 is included under the topic Early Weatherby History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Weatherby Spelling Variations
A multitude of spelling variations characterize Norman surnames. Many variations occurred because Old and Middle English lacked any definite spelling rules. The introduction of Norman French to England also had a pronounced effect, as did the court languages of Latin and French. Therefore, one person was often referred to by several different spellings in a single lifetime. The various spellings include Wetherby, Weatherby, Wetherbie, Wetherbee, Witherby and many more.
Early Notables of the Weatherby family
More information is included under the topic Early Weatherby Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Weatherby Ranking
In the United States, the name Weatherby is the 6,827th most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. 6
Weatherby migration to the United States +
Many English families left England, to avoid the chaos of their homeland and migrated to the many British colonies abroad. Although the conditions on the ships were extremely cramped, and some travelers arrived diseased, starving, and destitute, once in the colonies, many of the families prospered and made valuable contributions to the cultures of what would become the United States and Canada. Research into the origins of individual families in North America has revealed records of the immigration of a number of people bearing the name Weatherby or a variant listed above:
Weatherby Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
- Martha Weatherby, who landed in Virginia in 1698 7
Weatherby Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
- Thomas Weatherby, who arrived in Virginia in 1702 7
Weatherby Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
- N L. Weatherby, aged 48, who settled in America from England, in 1893
- Stewart Weatherby, aged 40, who landed in America, in 1896
Weatherby Settlers in United States in the 20th Century
- Stuart Weatherby, aged 41, who immigrated to the United States from London, in 1907
- Ellen Trubee Weatherby, aged 29, who settled in America from Iverbucks, England, in 1908
- Mayme Weatherby, aged 29, who landed in America, in 1909
- William Weatherby, aged 39, who landed in America, in 1911
- Willis C. Weatherby, aged 50, who immigrated to America, in 1911
- ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Weatherby migration to Canada +
Some of the first settlers of this family name were:
Weatherby Settlers in Canada in the 20th Century
- Alena Weatherby, aged 20, who settled in Halifax, Canada, in 1914
Contemporary Notables of the name Weatherby (post 1700) +
- Meredith Weatherby (1914-1997), Texas-born American publisher and occasional actor, founder of Weatherhill Publications
- Charles Alfred Weatherby (1875-1949), American botanist from Hartford, Connecticut
- Dennis W. Weatherby (1959-2007), American inventor, scientist, university administrator
- Roy E. Weatherby (1910-1988), American owner and founder of Weatherby, Inc., an American rifle, shotgun and cartridge manufacturing company set up in 1945
- George E. Weatherby, American politician, Presidential Elector for Wisconsin, 1880 8
- Edmund Weatherby, American politician, Member of New Jersey State House of Assembly from Gloucester County, 1851 8
- John Harry Weatherby (1870-1948), English cricketer from Oatlands, Surrey who played for Buckinghamshire (1896-1898), brother of Francis Weatherby
- Sir Francis Weatherby MC (1885-1969), English cricketer from Oatlands, Surrey who played for Oxford University in 1904 and Buckinghamshire in 1902
Citations +
- Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
- Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
- Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
- 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)
- "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
- 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)
- The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 8) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html