This interesting and unusual surname with variants Newbon, Newbowne, Newbound etc., derives from an occupational name "Newbon", used to describe a new householder, or newly settled peasant who held land under the Tennure of bondage, from the Old English elements "niwe", new and "bonda", bond, lease. The surname first appears in the late 13th Century, (see below). Roger le Neubonde is recorded int the Hundred Rolls of Buckinghamshire, in 1273. An unusual variant of the surname is "Kneebone", a nickname used to describe someone with knobbly knees. A Grace Kneebone is recorded in 1585, at St. Columb Major, Cornwall. A John Nawbon married Joan Vessy, on September 3rd 1542, at St. Margaret's, Westminster, London. On June 14th 1572, at Rotherham, Yorkshire, John Newbowne married Betteris Wintworth. John Newband married Margaret Madox, on October 1st 1629, at Harrow on the Hill London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Hugo le Neubonde, which was dated 1271, "Cartularium Monasterii de Rameseia", Cambridgeshire, during the reign of King Henry 111, "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. 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.