Recorded in several forms as shown below, this is an ancient surname of ultimately Old French origins. Introduced into the British Isles by the Norman-French invaders of 1066, it was originally occupational for a military muscian, one who played the tabour, an instrument roughly equivalent to the modern tamborine, and still in use. The tabour is of ancient Persian designs and dates from about 2500 b.c, and has been used by almost every army since, at one time or another. It also had a civilian equivalent , and it seems most likely that for the occupation to have become a hereditary surname it must have been played regularly in festivals and the theatres of the time. The modern British surname spellings include Taberner, Tabberner, Tabiner and Tabner, whilst French forms include Tabour, Tambur and Tabournier. Since the Middel Ages the surname development has included Petur Taberner of Devonshire and Eustace Tabur of Oxford in the Hundred Rolls of landowners in 1273, and Wilhelmus Taburner in the Poll Tax rolls of Yorkshire in 1379. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert le Taburner. This was dated 1201, in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire, during the reign of King John of England, known as 'Lackland', 1199 - 1216. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was somerimes 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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