Show ContentsWorbey History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Worbey is an ancient Norman name that arrived in England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Worbey 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]

Early Origins of the Worbey family

The surname Worbey 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]

Early History of the Worbey family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Worbey research. Another 69 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1200, 1261, 1825, 1846 and 1887 are included under the topic Early Worbey History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Worbey Spelling Variations

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.

Early Notables of the Worbey family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was Emma Jane Warboise (1825-1887), author, the eldest child of George Baddeley Worboise and his wife, Maria Lane (her father property in Birmingham), was born in Birmingham on 20 April 1825. She early developed a strong turn for story writing, and by the time she was twenty had amassed a large quantity of manuscripts both prose and poetry...
Another 65 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Worbey Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Worbey family

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 Worbey 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..


Contemporary Notables of the name Worbey (post 1700) +

  • Brian Worbey, English politician for Hitchin Walsworth ward in the 1982 North Hertfordshire District Council election
  • Darryl Worbey, British puppeteer, known for his work with Don Austen and John Eccleston, founder of Darryl Worbey Studios
  • Steven Worbey, British piano musical comedy player, one half of the duo Worbey & Farrell


  1. Cleveland, Dutchess of The Battle Abbey Roll with some Account of the Norman Lineages. London: John Murray, Abermarle Street, 1889. Print. Volume 3 of 3
  2. Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
  3. The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
  4. Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.


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