EnglandGardboys is an ancient Norman name that arrived in England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Gardboys family lived in "Verboys, near Rouen, Normandy. This family gave its name to Warbois or Warboys, formerly spelt Wardeboys, a considerable village on the high road from Huntingdon to Ramsey." [1]
The surname Gardboys was first found in Cambridgeshire, formerly Huntingdonshire where it is now a large parish and village. The village dates back to pre-Conquest times where the first listing was Weardebusc in 974. Literally the place name probably means "bush of a man called Wearda" having derived from the Old English personal name + busc. [2]
By the time of the Domesday Book, the lands were held listed as lands of St. Benedict of Ramsey. Looking back further, the family was originally derived from Verbois, near Rouen in Normandy. [3] [4]
"Walter Wardebois is mentioned in the county as early as 1199. (Rotuli Curiae Regis.) Geoffrey de Wardbois, a townsman of Cambridge, was 'charged with having joined in the great riot against the Master and Scholars of the University' in 1322." [1]
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Gardboys research. Another 69 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1200 and 1261 are included under the topic Early Gardboys History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
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 Warboy, Warboyse, Warboise, Wardboys, Gardboys, Garboys, Worboy, Worboys and many more.
More information is included under the topic Early Gardboys Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
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 Gardboys or a variant listed above: 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..
