Show ContentsBassingbyrne History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Early Origins of the Bassingbyrne family

The surname Bassingbyrne was first found in Cambridgeshire where one of the first records of the family was Hmphrey de Bassingbourne (fl. 1206), "an itinerant justice in the year 1206, when certain fines were acknowledged before him and Richard de Seing at St. Edmund's, Cambridge, and Bedford. On this occasion he is called Humphrey, Archdeacon of Salisbury, and Foss has identified this Humphrey with the Humphrey de Bassingbourne who, according to Le Neve, was Archdeacon of Sarum in various years from 1188 to 1222. " 1

Today, Bassingbourne is a parish, in the union of Royston, hundred of Armingford in Cambridgeshire. 2

Hence, conjecturally, the surname is descended from the tenant of the lands and village of Bassingborne, held by Leofing from Hardwin of Scales, a Norman Baron, who was recorded in the Domesday Book census of 1086.

Early History of the Bassingbyrne family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bassingbyrne research. Another 139 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1306, 1510, 1534 and 1600 are included under the topic Early Bassingbyrne History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bassingbyrne Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Bassingborn, Bassingborne, Basingborn, Basingborne, Bassingburn, Bassingyrn, Bassingbyrne, Basingburn, Basingbyrn, Basinbyrne, Basingford, Basingforth, Bassingford, Bassingforth, Bassington and many more.

Early Notables of the Bassingbyrne family

More information is included under the topic Early Bassingbyrne Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Bassingbyrne family

Because of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Bassingbyrne name or one of its variants: the name represented in many forms and recorded from the mid 17th century in the great migration from Europe. Migrants settled in the eastern seaboard from Newfoundland, to Maine, to Virginia, the Carolinas, and to the islands..



  1. Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
  2. Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.


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