This interesting surname derives from two possible origins. Firstly it may be of English locational origin from "Great and Little Wigborough" in Essex recorded "Wicgebergha" and "Wigheberga" in the Domesday Book of 1086. The place name itself is composed of the Old English personal name "Wicga", and the second element "beorg", Old English word for hill, barrow. secondly the name may derive from the Old English female personal name "Wigburls", composed of the elements "wig", -war and "burh", fortress. This personal name was first recorded in 1182, as "Wyburgh" in the Kalendar of Abbot Samson of Bury St. Edmunds and related documents (Suffolk). The surname from the first source first appeared in records in 1328, when one Richard de Wygebere was mentioned in Kirby's quest for Somerset while from the second source it first appears in the late 13th Century, (see below). Margeria Wyburgh was mentioned in the Subsidy Rolls of Cambridge in 1327. John Wiboroughe married Millisent Gloner, at St. Gregory by St. Paul London on August 24th 1589, while Edward, son of Richard and Mary Wybrew was christened on December 30th 1722. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Roger Wybir, which was dated 1279, Hundred Rolls of Oxford, during the reign of King Edward 1, "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.

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