This is an English locational surname of some antiquity, from either of the places called "Goldsborough" in North Yorkshire and in West Yorkshire. The place in North Yorkshire is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Golborg" or "Goldeburgh", and means "Golda's fort", from the Olde English pre 7th Century personal name "Golda" plus "burg", a fortified place. "Goldsborough" in West Yorkshire appears as "God(en)esburg" in the Domesday Book, and means "Godhelm's fort", from the Olde English personal name with "burg" as before. The name development has included "John Goldsborough" and "Lawrence Goldsberry" (both 1674, Suffolk), and "John Goldsbrow" (1784, Suffolk). In 1695 "Christopher Goldsbrough" married "Sibbel Lewis" at St. James', Clerkenwell, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Walter de Goldisburc, which was dated 1206, in the "Yorkshire Pipe Rolls", during the reign of King John, known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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