Willborn is an ancient Norman name that arrived in
England after the
Norman Conquest of 1066. The Willborn family lived in
Lincolnshire. Their name is derived from the Old English word
welle, meaning
well, and the Old Norse word
brunnr, meaning
stream or spring, and indicates that
the original bearer lived near a well by a stream or spring.Early Origins of the Willborn family
The surname Willborn was first found in
Lincolnshire where they were Lords of the manor of Welbourn and conjecturally descended from a Norman noble, Robert Malet, who was granted the church and mill by King William the Conqueror in 1066. The ancestry of Robert goes back to Graville near Havre in
Normandy in 990, where he was descended from Algar, the seventh Earl of Mercia.
Early History of the Willborn family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Willborn research.
Another 158 words (11 lines of text) covering the years 1605, 1929, 1640, 1702, 1699 and 1702 are included under the topic Early Willborn History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Willborn Spelling Variations
Norman surnames are characterized by a multitude of
spelling variations. The frequent changes in surnames are largely due to the fact that the Old and Middle English languages lacked definite spelling rules. The introduction of Norman French to
England, as well as the official court languages of Latin and French, also had pronounced influences on the spelling of surnames. Since medieval scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded, rather than adhering to any specific spelling rules, it was common to find the same individual referred to with different spellings. The name has been spelled Welborne, Welborn, Welbourne, Welburn and others.
Early Notables of the Willborn family (pre 1700)
Outstanding amongst the family at this time was Thomas Welbourne (Welbourn) (executed at York, 1 August 1605), an English Roman Catholic teacher; Catholic martyr, beatified in 1929. Thomas Wellborn (also: Welbourn, Welbourne, Wellbourne), (1640-1702), served as...
Another 35 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Willborn Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Migration of the Willborn family to Ireland
Some of the Willborn family moved to
Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 74 words (5 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Migration of the Willborn family to the New World and Oceana
Many English families emigrated to North American colonies in order to escape the political chaos in Britain at this time. Unfortunately, many English families made the trip to the New World under extremely harsh conditions. Overcrowding on the ships caused the majority of the immigrants to arrive diseased, famished, and destitute from the long journey across the stormy Atlantic. Despite these hardships, many of the families prospered and went on to make invaluable contributions to the development of the cultures of the United States and Canada. Early North American immigration records have revealed a number of people bearing the name Willborn or a variant listed above:
Willborn Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
- Luise Ruppenthal Willborn, who arrived in Brazil in 1826 [1]CITATION[CLOSE]
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)