Recorded as Newbery, Newberry, Newbury, Newborough, Newburgh, and others, is English. It is locational from any of the places named from the pre 7th century word "neowe" meaning new, plus the suffix "-burh", a fortress or town. These include Newbury in Berkshire, recorded as "Neuberie", circa 1080; Newburgh in the North Riding of Yorkshire and Lancashire, recorded respectively as "Nou Burgo" in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire in 1199, and as "Neweburgh" in the Place Names of Lancashire in 1431; and Newborough (Staffordshire), appearing as "Neuboreg" in the Assize Court rolls of that county in 1280. The surname first appears on record in the latter part of the 13th Century (see below), and one John de Newbury was recorded in Somerset, circa 1327. On January 8th 1599 Avelin Newbury and George Holliers were married at St. Margaret's Westminster, and in February 1685, Joseph Newberry of Exeter appears on a list of convicted rebels from the Duke of Monmouths rebellion bound for transportation to the Barbados. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Henry de Neubury. This was dated 1273, in the Hundred Rolls of Buckinghamshire, during the reign of King Edward 1st ofEngland, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes 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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