Post by Admin on May 23, 2020 22:12:43 GMT -7
Before the Norman Conquest of Britain, people did not have hereditary surnames: they were just known by a personal name or nickname - John, Jack, Mary . . . That was fine when communities were small, but as the population increased, it gradually became necessary to identify people further, leading to names such as John the Bold, Jack the butcher, Mary the Good.
That began to change after 1066 when the Norman barons brought surnames with them into England, as with our Sir John de Crosebi.
Some have a different opinion:
To me, the fact that:
Christianity made its appearance in England in 597 with the advent of Augustine
disproves their argument.
During the 469 years between 597 and 1066, thousands of crosses were erected all over England, only two were mentioned in the Doomsday Book.
After that, a few more took the name Crosby, in the areas settled by Sir John de Crosebi's descendants.
That began to change after 1066 when the Norman barons brought surnames with them into England, as with our Sir John de Crosebi.
Some have a different opinion:
The derivation of the name of " Crosby " seems to be generally given as coming from “cross," the symbol of Christianity, and the Danish termination “ by,” which suffix is equivalent to the “bury," "burg," or "borough" of other derivatives meaning a town or centre of population, and hence "Crosby" meant "the town of the Cross," or the town located near a cross or where a cross had been set up. Which might very well have been, for when Christianity made its appearance in England in 597 with the advent of Augustine it is not too much a stretch of the imagination to suppose that the establishment of a large cross near any hamlet which up to then had not been of sufficient importance to bear a name might thereafter be designated as the “town of the cross," or "Cross-by"; or even that such establishment of a cross in days when Christianity had not generally been adapted in Britain was enough of a challenge to the rest of the country that those who dwelt in its shadow were of the Christian faith and no longer worshiped "Woden and the gods of their fathers.”
There is little doubt in the minds of etymologists that such was the origin of the name of “Crosby,” nor is there much doubt that the name attached itself to some town or towns before it came to be used as the surname of any family. For in early days in England among the middle and yeoman class and before the awakening of much family interest a man might be known as simply by his given name, such as Thomas, and, to designate him the better, he would be called Thomas of the town he lived in, as “Thomas of Crosby,” and later, removing elsewhere, would still be known as “Thomas of Crosby,” and then as Thomas Crosby; and hence began the use of the name as a family name.
And this appears to be borne out by the fact that in all the very earliest references to the name it appears as “de Crosseby,” which is the French way of saying “of Crosby,” and was so used as the family name for over two hundred years, viz., 1204–1415, when for the first time, so far as recorded, the “de” is dropped. It is interesting, also, to note that in the spelling of the name in those days the derivation from “cross” is plainer than it is to-day, by spelling the name “Crosseby”use did not come in until the eleventh century, which was coincident with the arrival of the Normans.
Lower, in his excellent work on English surnames,” says: “It is certain that the practice of making the second name of the individual stationary and transmitting it to descendants came generally into use during the eleventh and three following centuries. By the middle of the twelfth it began, in the estimation of some, to be essential that persons of rank should bear some designation in addition to their baptismal name.” Which would appear to explain why the “de” was used in 1204 when the Norman influence was still strongly felt. But that the name “Crosby.” should be of Norman origin is rendered extremely doubtful from the purely Danish suffix “by” and the entirely English way of spelling “cross,” viz., “Crosse.” Then, too, the fact that we find eight or ten towns called “Crosby” and all located in the north of England, in Scotland, and in the Isle of Man, must surely indicate that some of these towns were of an origin prior to that of the Normans; for mention is made of a Crosby f in Lancashire in the reign of Henry III. And it is hardly to be supposed that all these towns were founded after the arrival of William the Conqueror, and all in that part of England furthest away from the influence of the Normans, even in Scotland, whither William drove many of his enemies as exiles in their flight.
There is little doubt in the minds of etymologists that such was the origin of the name of “Crosby,” nor is there much doubt that the name attached itself to some town or towns before it came to be used as the surname of any family. For in early days in England among the middle and yeoman class and before the awakening of much family interest a man might be known as simply by his given name, such as Thomas, and, to designate him the better, he would be called Thomas of the town he lived in, as “Thomas of Crosby,” and later, removing elsewhere, would still be known as “Thomas of Crosby,” and then as Thomas Crosby; and hence began the use of the name as a family name.
And this appears to be borne out by the fact that in all the very earliest references to the name it appears as “de Crosseby,” which is the French way of saying “of Crosby,” and was so used as the family name for over two hundred years, viz., 1204–1415, when for the first time, so far as recorded, the “de” is dropped. It is interesting, also, to note that in the spelling of the name in those days the derivation from “cross” is plainer than it is to-day, by spelling the name “Crosseby”use did not come in until the eleventh century, which was coincident with the arrival of the Normans.
Lower, in his excellent work on English surnames,” says: “It is certain that the practice of making the second name of the individual stationary and transmitting it to descendants came generally into use during the eleventh and three following centuries. By the middle of the twelfth it began, in the estimation of some, to be essential that persons of rank should bear some designation in addition to their baptismal name.” Which would appear to explain why the “de” was used in 1204 when the Norman influence was still strongly felt. But that the name “Crosby.” should be of Norman origin is rendered extremely doubtful from the purely Danish suffix “by” and the entirely English way of spelling “cross,” viz., “Crosse.” Then, too, the fact that we find eight or ten towns called “Crosby” and all located in the north of England, in Scotland, and in the Isle of Man, must surely indicate that some of these towns were of an origin prior to that of the Normans; for mention is made of a Crosby f in Lancashire in the reign of Henry III. And it is hardly to be supposed that all these towns were founded after the arrival of William the Conqueror, and all in that part of England furthest away from the influence of the Normans, even in Scotland, whither William drove many of his enemies as exiles in their flight.
To me, the fact that:
Christianity made its appearance in England in 597 with the advent of Augustine
disproves their argument.
During the 469 years between 597 and 1066, thousands of crosses were erected all over England, only two were mentioned in the Doomsday Book.
After that, a few more took the name Crosby, in the areas settled by Sir John de Crosebi's descendants.