Show ContentsOgbourn History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

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Ogbourn Family Crest Download (JPG) Heritage Series - 600 DPI

Family Crest Download (JPG) Heritage Series - 600 DPI

Etymology of Ogbourn

What does the name Ogbourn mean?

The Ogbourn surname is a habitational name, taken on from either of two villages in Wiltshire called Ogbourne. 1 These place names come from the Old English personal name "Oc(c)a," with the Old English word "burna," meaning a "stream" or "creek." 2

At Ogbourn (St. George), Wiltshire "in 556, a sanguinary battle was fought here between the Britons and the West Saxons, which lasted the whole day, and ended in the total rout of the Britons, and the capture of their neighbouring fortress, BarBerry Castle, in the vicinity of which numerous barrows are still visible. A priory of Benedictine monks, subordinate to the abbey of Bec-Herlowyn, in Normandy, was founded here about 1149; it became the richest and principal cell to that house in England." 3

Early Origins of the Ogbourn family

The surname Ogbourn was first found in Wiltshire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, having prevailed over King Harold, granted most of Britain to his many victorious Barons. It was not uncommon to find a Baron, or a Bishop, with 60 or more Lordships scattered throughout the country. These he gave to his sons, nephews and other junior lines of his family and they became known as under-tenants. They adopted the Norman system of surnames which identified the under-tenant with his holdings so as to distinguish him from the senior stem of the family. After many rebellious wars between his Barons, Duke William, commissioned a census of all England to determine in 1086, settling once and for all, who held which land. He called the census the Domesday Book, 4 indicating that those holders registered would hold the land until the end of time. Hence, conjecturally, the surname is descended from the tenant of the lands of Ogbourn, held by Miles Crispin, a relative of Duke William, who was recorded in the Domesday Book census of 1086. 4

Early History of the Ogbourn family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Ogbourn research. Another 95 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1273, 1727, 1740, 1750, 1759, 1761, 1765, 1770, 1790, 1814, 1817 and 1853 are included under the topic Early Ogbourn History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ogbourn Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Ogburn, Ogbourn, Ogeburn, Ogbourne, Okeburn, Okebourn, Ockburn, Ockbourn, Occburn, Ogborn, Oggborn, Ogborne, Oggborne, Oxburn, Oxbourne and many more.

Early Notables of the Ogbourn family

David Ogborne (fl. 1740-1761), English artist, married and settled before 1740 at Chelmsford, Essex, where he is described in the register as a 'painter' or 'limner.' He gained a certain reputation by his portraits of local provincial monsters, such as a winged fish taken at Battle Bridge, and a calf with six legs produced at Great Baddow; but he painted also a portrait of Edward Bright, a grocer of Maldon, Essex, who weighed 43½ stone, and died 10 Nov. 1750, aged 29. 5 Elizabeth Ogborne (1759-1853), English historian of Essex, born at Chelmsford and baptised 16 May 1759, was daughter of engraver...
Another 183 words (13 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Ogbourn Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Ogbourn family

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: 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. Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
  2. Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
  3. Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
  4. Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
  5. Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print

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