Sambrook History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The name Sambrook was brought to England in the great wave of migration following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Sambrook family lived in Shropshire. Their name is derived from the Old English word Semebre, and indicates that the original bearer of the name lived near a sandy stream or sandy brook. 1

Early Origins of the Sambrook family

The surname Sambrook was first found in Shropshire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor of Sambrook in that shire. 2

Conjecturally the family name is descended from Turold, a Norman noble, who held the village of Sambrook at the time of the taking of the Domesday Book, 3 a census of England initiated by Duke William of Normandy in 1086, after his conquest of England at Hastings in 1066 A.D. Turold held the village of Sambrook from his tenant-in-chief, the overlord, Earl Roger. The original Saxon name of the village, pre conquest, was Semembre, and the village consisted of a Mill and a few houses.

Early History of the Sambrook family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Sambrook research. Another 73 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1650, 1715 and 1754 are included under the topic Early Sambrook History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Sambrook Spelling Variations

Endless spelling variations are a prevailing characteristic of Norman surnames. Old and Middle English lacked any definite spelling rules, and the introduction of Norman French added an unfamiliar ingredient to the English linguistic stew. French and Latin, the languages of the court, also influenced spellings. Finally, Medieval scribes generally spelled words according to how they sounded, so one person was often referred to by different spellings in different documents. The name has been spelled Semembre, Sambrook, Sambrooke, Sembrooke, Sembrook, Sanbrook, Sanbrooke, Sandbrooke, Sandbrook and many more.

Early Notables of the Sambrook family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was

Sir Jeremy Sambrooke

Sambrook migration to the United States +

To escape the political and religious persecution within England at the time, many English families left for the various British colonies abroad. The voyage was extremely difficult, though, and the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving. But for those who made it, the trip was most often worth it. Many of the families who arrived went on to make valuable contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. An inquiry into the early roots of North American families reveals a number of immigrants bearing the name Sambrook or a variant listed above:

Sambrook Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Sand Sambrook, who arrived in Virginia in 1706 4

Contemporary Notables of the name Sambrook (post 1700) +

Andrew John "Andy" Sambrook (b. 1979), English semi-professional footballer
Joseph Frank Sambrook (b. 1939), British molecular biologist
Richard Sambrook (b. 1956), British Vice Chairman and Chief Content Officer of the Edelman public relations agency
Gordon Hartley Sambrook, Company Director, Managing Director, Personnel, Social and Regional Policy, British Steel Corp. London

Citations +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Barber, Henry, British Family Names London: Elliot Stock, 62 Paternoster Row, 1894. Print.
Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
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)