Recorded in many spellings as shown below, this is an English medieval surname. It is locational from either of two places called Golborne, one in the county of Cheshire and the other in the county of Lancashire. The derivation is from the Olde English pre 7th century word 'golde' meaning "marigold" as in the famous flower, and "burna", the original spelling for a brook or stream and still used in Scotland. Hence we have the meaning of "The stream where the marigold grows". The surname is first recorded in the early half of the 14th Century, (see below), and is not surprisingly well recorded in church registers of the two counties in the varied spellings of Goldbourn, Golbourn, Goulborne, Goulborn, Goulbourne and others. Early examples of recordings include those of Emma Golborne and Richard Holland who were married in Chester on July 19th 1567, Katherine Goulbourne who married Richard Price on August 26th 1671 at the same place, whilst George Golbourne was christened at Warrington, on July 10th 1614. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard de Goldburn. This was dated 1332, in the Subsidy Rolls of Lancashire, during the reign of King Edward 111, known as "The Father of the Navy", 1327 - 1377. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as the 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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