This interesting surname is of English locational origin from any of the various places so called. Corby in Lincolnshire and Northamptonsire, recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, as "Corbi" and "Corbei" respectively, are composed of the Old Norse personal name "Kori" plus "byr" meaning a farm or settlement. Corby in Cumberland, recorded as "Chorkeby" in the "Register of the Priory of Wetherhal" (1120), has as it's first element the Old Irish personal name "Corc"; hence "Corc's farm". One, Osbert de Coreby, is recorded in the Hundred Rolls of Lincolnshire (1273). It is also possible that the surname is a diminutive of the French "corb" meaning crow, and would have originated as a nickname for one with black shiny hair. In the modern idiom the surname may also be spelt Corbie. Robert, son of Thomas Corby, was christened on July 28th 1550, at St. Mary Magdalene, Bermondsey, London. John Corby married Katheren Pratte on April 14th 1570, at St. Giles Cripplegate. On October 13th 1583, Gilbert, son of John Corby, was christened at St. Mary Magdalene, Bermondsey. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Alan de Corby, which was dated 1273, in the "Hundred Rolls of Lincolnshire", during the reign of King Edward 1, 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.