This interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational name from any of the places named with the Olde English pre 7th Century "neowe" meaning new, with "burh", a fortress or town; for example, Newbury in Berkshire, recorded as "Neuberie" in the "Documents preserved in France" (circa 1180); Newburgh in the North Riding of Yorkshire and Lancashire, recorded respectively as "Nouo Burgo" in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire (1199) and as "Neweburgh" in the Place Names of Lancashire (1431); and Newborough in Staffordshire noted as "Neuboreg" in the 1280 Assize Court Rolls of that county. Locational names were originally given as a means of identification to those who left their village or place of origin to settle elsewhere. The surname is first recorded in the latter half of the 13th Century (see below). The surname is also found in the variant spellings Newberry, Newbury, Newbrough, Newborough and Newburgh. An interesting bearer of the name was Ralph or Rafe Newbery (flourished 1590), who published "Hakluyt's Voyages", and "Holinshed's Chronicles" in 1574. A Coat of Arms granted to the family is black, with three ermine pallets, and on a silver canton a blue demi lion, the Crest being a dexter arm proper vested blue, cuffed gold, holding a red truncheon tipped gold. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Henry de Neubury, which was dated 1273, in the "Hundred Rolls of Buckinghamshire, during the reign of King Edward 1st, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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.