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Origins of

the Surname

Variations of

the Surname

Armorial Bearings,

 Symbols and Mottoes

Locations of

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Origins of the Surname

An Introduction

to the Surname

Source/Meaning

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History of

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Surnames

An Introduction to the Surname

The practice of inherited family surnames began in England and France during the late part of the 11^th century.   Surnames were first utilized in the Germanic region of central Europe during the second half of the 12th century.  The custom of taking on surnames began in the southern areas of Germany, and gradually spread northward during the Middle Ages.  It took about three hundred years for this tradition to apply to most families and become a constant part of one’s identity.        With the passing of generations and the movement of families from place to place many of the original identifying names were altered into some of the versions that we are familiar with today.  Over the centuries, most of our European ancestors accepted their surname as an unchangeable part of their lives.  Thus people rarely changed their surname.  Variations of most surnames were usually the result of an involuntary act such as when a government official wrote a name phonetically or made an error in transcription. 

Map of European Languages

Research into the record of this ASHBURY family line indicates that the variations, meanings and history of this surname are most likely linked to that area of Europe where English linguistic traditions are commonly found. 

Sources and Meanings of the Surname

BRITISH NAMES

Most of the modern family names throughout Great Britain have originated as a result of the following circumstances: patronym or matronym, names based on the name of one's father, mother or ancestor, (Johnson, Wilson). Each is a means of conveying lineage; occupation (i.e., Carpenter, Cooper, Brewer, Mason); habitational (Middleton, Sidney, or Ireland) or topographical (i.e. Hill, Brook, Forrest, Dale); nicknames (i.e., Moody Freeholder, Wise, Armstrong); status (i.e. Freeman, Bond, Knight); and acquired ornamental names that were simply made up.

ASHBURY is an English surname with origins from the Middle English word asche for an ‘ash tree’ (Old English æsc).  Bury comes from the dative case, byrig, of the Old English word burh for ‘fortified place’.  As such it is a topographic* name for someone living by an ash tree or a habitational* name from any of the many places in southern and central England named with this word such as Ashbury a village in Devon, England; and Ashbury a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire.  Locations named Ashbury are also historically found in Derbyshire, Dorset, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Kent, Surrey, Shropshire, and Somerset.

*Almost every city, town or village extant in the Middle Ages has served to name one or more families. While a man lived in a town or village he would not be known by its name, as that would be no means of identification - all in the village would be so named. But when a man left his birthplace or village where he had been known and went elsewhere, people would likely refer to him by the name of his former residence or by the name of the land which he owned. Some had the name of a manor or village because they were lords of that place and owned it, but the majority descend from vassals of freeman who once had lived there.

History of the Surname

BRITISH NAMES

Surnames as we know them today were first assumed in Europe from the 11th to the 15th century. They were not in use in England or Scotland, before the Norman Conquest of 1066, and were first found in the Domesday Book of 1086. The employment in the use of a second name was a custom that was first introduced from the Normans who had adopted the custom just prior to this time.    Soon thereafter it became a mark of a generally higher socio-economic status and thus seen as disgraceful for a well-bred man to have only one name.  It was not until the middle of the 14^th century that surnames became general practice among all people in the British Isles.

Early records of the name mention Robert Assebury, 1273, County Lancashire. Rogerus de Assebury of Yorkshire, was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379.

Some Notable Persons or Places Having This Surname

Some of the best known bearers of the ASHBURY name or its close variants are:  Ashbury (band), an Alternative rock band from Las Vegas, NV;  Ashbury, Bangor, a suburb of Bangor, Northern Ireland;  Ashbury, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia;  Ashbury, Western Cape;  Ashbury College (Ottawa), a school in Ottawa, Canada;  Ashbury Heights, a Swedish synthpop music band;  Ashbury Railway Carriage and Iron Company Ltd a manufacturer of railway equipment;  and Haight-Ashbury, a district of San Francisco, California notable for being the center of 60s drug culture.

More About Surname Meanings & Origins

BRITISH SURNAMES

Although the Domesday Book compiled by William the Conqueror required surnames, the use of them in the British Isles did not become fixed until the time period between 1250 and 1450.  The broad range of ethnic and linguistic roots for British surnames reflects the history of Britain as an oft-invaded land. These roots include, but are not limited to, Old English, Middle English, Old French, Old Norse, Irish, Gaelic, Celtic, Pictish, Welsh, Gaulish, Germanic, Latin, Greek and Hebrew.  Throughout the British Isles, there are basically five types of native surnames. Some surnames were derived from a man's occupation (Carpenter, Taylor, Brewer, Mason), a practice that was commonplace by the end of the 14th century.  Place names reflected a location of residence and were also commonly used (Hill, Brook, Forrest, Dale) as a basis for the surname, for reasons that can be easily understood.  Nicknames that stuck also became surnames.  About one-third of all surnames in the United Kingdom are patronymic in origin, and identified the first bearer of the name by his father (or grandfather in the case of some Irish names). When the coast of England was invaded by William The Conqueror in the year 1066, the Normans brought with them a store of French personal names, which soon, more or less, entirely replaced the traditional more varied Old English personal names, at least among the upper and middle classes. A century of so later, given names of the principal saints of the Christian church began to be used. It is from these two types of given name that the majority of the English patronymic surnames are derived and used to this day.  Acquired ornamental names were simply made up, and had no specific reflection on the first who bore the name. They simply sounded nice, or were made up as a means of identification, generally much later than most surnames were adopted.   Source: http://www.obcgs.com/LASTNAMES.htm

Use this LINK to find the ethnic origin and meaning of last

names. Surname dictionary and

genealogy helps include names of Irish, German, English, French, Italian, and Jewish descent.

Variations of the Surname

Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to unfold and expand often leading to an overwhelming number of variants.  As such one can encounter great variation in the spelling of surnames because in early times, spelling in general and thus the spelling of names was not yet standardized.  Later on spellings would change with the branching and movement of families. The complexity of researching records is compounded by the fact that in many cases an ancestors surname may have been misspelled.  This is especially true when searching census documents.

Spelling variations of this family name may be ascertained through the utilization of several systems developed over the years.  The most prominently known are Soundex, Metaphone, and the NameX systems.  Of the three we recommend NameX as the most accurate for family historians.

Click on the button to find the variants of this or any other surname by utilizing The Name Thesaurus a ground-breaking technology for finding Surname and Forename variants.

This useful genealogy research tool has identified 385 million variants for 5,929,000 Surnames and 26 million variants for 1,246,000 Forenames, as well as gender identification for more than 220,000 Forenames.

NameX matched 107 spelling variations of the ASHBURY surname. The top 22 are:

Metaphone is a phonetic algorithm, first published in 1990, for indexing words by their English pronunciation.  It fundamentally improves on the Soundex algorithm by using information about variations and inconsistencies in English spelling and pronunciation to produce a more accurate encoding. Later a new version of the algorithm named Double Metaphone was created to take into account spelling peculiarities of a number of other languages. In 2009 a third version, called Metaphone 3, achieves an accuracy of approximately 99% for English words, non-English words familiar to Americans, and first names and family names commonly found in the U.S.  The Metaphone Code for ASHBURY is AXBRY.  There are 18 other surnames sharing this code.

The Soundex System was developed in an effort to assist with identifying spelling variations for a given surname. Soundex is a method of indexing names in the 1880, 1900, 1910, and 1920 US Census, and can aid genealogists in their research.  

The Soundex Code for ASHBURY is A216.  There are 2,205 other surnames sharing this Code. 

If The Name Thesaurus doesn’t adequately address the name you are looking for check out the following link:

Top 10 Tips for Finding Alternative Surname Spellings & Variations

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Locations of the Surname

Locational Distribution of this Surname

Historical Distribution of this Surname

Locational Distribution of This Surname

Knowing the geographical areas where the surname you are researching is clustered and distributed is an indispensable tool in deciding where to focus your research.  We believe that the presented below will open up to you a wide range of solutions which implement current research in spatial analysis. 

The information presented herein shows where the ASHBURY surname is distributed within the United Kingdom. 

The highest Incidence of Ashburys in UK Counties and Dependencies are as follows: (1) Middlesex; (2) Yorkshire; (3) Lancashire;  (4) Nottinghamshire;  and (5) Worcestershire.

Highest Incidence of Ashburys in UK Towns are as follows: (1) Kings Norton; (2) Aston juxta Birmingham; (3) Islington;  (4) Hampstead;  and (5) Everton.

United Kingdom

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·        Database of Surnames in the Netherlands

·        Database of Surnames in Belgium

·        Names Distribution in France

·        Map of the surname: Austria

·        Distribution of Surnames in Spain

·        Map of the Surname: Switzerland

·        Distribution of Surnames in Italy

Historical Distribution of this Surname

The main value in historical surname distribution databases and maps is that they enable genealogists to pinpoint the predominant location of a surname. This can quickly narrow down your search for a BDM certificate.  Knowing where to look is half the battle to finding ancestry records; if you can narrow down the search field it can save you a lot of time and trouble.  The core of historical surname distribution is that most people stayed within a fairly close locale.  Concentrations of surnames are clearly visible on Surname Distribution Maps, and name distribution tables (along with an atlas) make it quite likely that the origin of that name is from the area of its highest concentration.

The following “historical locations” for the ASHBURY surname and some of its close variant spellings have been extracted from Burke’s The general armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.   Burke’s resource book was first published in the 1860’s and revised over the next two decades.  The information therein is relevant to that period as well as earlier times as far back as 1500.      (2) = the frequency with which this place occurs.

In an effort to further assist you with these place names we recommend you utilize our Tools for Finding Ancestral Locations.  If you have an elementary knowledge of heraldry you may wish to use this practice to trace your founding forefather.  For more information about this approach to seeking out your ancestral locations see our Using Heraldry as a Family History Research Tool. 

·        Great Britain Family Names - 1881 Census

·        England and Wales: 1891 Census

·        Scotland: 1891 Census

·        Distribution of surnames in Ireland in 1890

·        Family Name Distribution in Germany: 1942

·        Nom de famille en France: 1891-1915; 1916-40; 1941-65; 1966-90

·        United States: 1920

Armorial Bearings, Mottoes & Symbols

An Introduction to

 European Heraldry

Gallery of Images

Descriptions of the

Armorial Bearings

Motto(es) of this Surname

Heraldry as a Family

History Research Tool

More About

Armorial Bearings

An Introduction To European Heraldry

The seeds of heraldic structure in personal identification can be detected in the account in a contemporary chronicle of Henry I of England, on the occasion of his knighting his son-in-law Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou, in 1127. He placed to hang around his neck a shield painted with golden lions. The funerary enamel of Geoffrey (died 1151), dressed in blue and gold and bearing his blue shield emblazoned with gold lions, is the first recorded depiction of a coat of arms.

       By the middle of the 12th century,  coats of arms were being inherited by the children of armigers (persons entitled to use a coat of arms) across Europe. Between 1135 and 1155, seals representing the generalized figure of the owner attest to the general adoption of heraldic devices in England, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy.  By the end of the century, heraldry appears as the sole device on seals.  In England, the practice of using marks of cadency arose to distinguish one son from another: the conventions became standardized in about 1500, and are traditionally supposed to have been devised by John Writhe.

     In the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, heraldry became a highly developed discipline, regulated by professional officers of arms. As its use in jousting became obsolete, coats of arms remained popular for visually identifying a person in other ways – impressed in sealing wax on documents, carved on family tombs, and flown as a banner on country homes. The first work of heraldic jurisprudence, De Insigniis et Armis, was written in the 1350s by Bartolus de Saxoferrato, a professor of law at the University of Padua.

    In the Germanic areas of Central Europe heraldry spread to the German burgher class in the 13th century, and even some peasants used arms in the 14th century.  A German coat of arms is usually referred to by any of the following terms; Wappen, Familienwappen, Blasonierung, Heraldik, or Wappenschablonen.

     In the British Isles the College of Arms, (founded in 1483), is the Royal corporation of heralds who record proved pedigrees and grant armorial bearings.  In Scottish heraldry, the Lord Lyon King of Arms in the Act of 1672 is empowered to grant arms to "vertuous [virtuous] and well deserving persons."

     Although heraldry in France and the lowlands of Belguim and Holland had a considerable history, like England, existing from the eleventh century, such formality has largely died out in these locations. The role of the herald (héraut) in France declined in the seventeenth century.  Many of the terms in international heraldry come from French.

Gallery of Images

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Descriptions of the Armorial Bearings

Heraldry symbols such as the colors, lines and shapes found on coats-of-arms are generally referred to as charges.  Although there is some debate over whether or not the charges have any universal symbolism many persons do believe they may represent an idea or skill of the person who originally had the armorial bearings created.  If this assumption has any validity charges may provide clues to early family history of that person.  The associated armorial bearings for this surname and close variant spellings are recorded in Burke’s General Armoire and Rietstap’s Armorial General.  The additional information, presented below, is offered with regard to the armorial bearings depicted above.

Mottoes of this Surname

A motto is a word or sentence usually written upon a scroll and generally placed below the shield, but sometimes, especially in Scotland, above the crest.    Many ancient mottoes were war-cries such as the Douglas motto of “Forward.”    Many mottoes refer to the name of the bearer, for example “cole regem” for Coleridge.   In general most mottoes convey a sentiment, hope, or determination, such as the Cotter motto “Dum spiro spero” where the meaning is “While I have breath I hope“.     Mottoes are often used by several successive generations, but may be changed at any time by the grantee. The languages most in use are Latin, French, and English.  Exceptions are seen in Scotland where they are often in the old Lowland dialect, and in Wales, often in the language of the principality.   

The following mottoes are associated with the ASHBURY surname and its close variant spellings:

Aequitate ac diligentia (translation unknown);  Will God and I Shall; and Probitas, Virtus, Comitas translated as Honesty, Courage, Kindness

Heraldry as a Family History Research Tool

Wondering whether you are descended of the nobility*?  Are you aware of an ancestor who held a prominent political position or had a title such as Sir, or Esquire?  If so you just might be descended from royalty.   If you are of European descent, you are probably a descendant of Charlemagne.  Once you are able to prove your line of descent from him, you will then find thousands of links to other royalty in your list of relatives.  It is rare indeed that the genealogy of a person of European descent, when traceable, doesn’t hit nobility somewhere.  And once it hits one European noble, whether you like it or not, hundreds of new names will become a part of your family.

*The nobility is a class of people who had special political and social status. Nobility is inherited or granted by the Crown as a reward to people who perform a heroic deed, achieve greatness in some endeavor, or hold a prominent government position.

    If you have an elementary knowledge of heraldry you may wish to use this practice to trace your founding forefather.  If you know the geographical place (country, county, city) where the family coat-of-arms was first identified, you may well search its history for the family name in question in order to find your direct ancestor.  Remember that most noble European family pedigrees have been thoroughly researched and published.   By putting together the family surname with the known location you may find a treasure trove of valuable information about your ancestors.  Upon pursing your research you should be aware of the possibility of variant spellings of the surname.  See Variations of the Surname for more information about variant spellings of the surname.

Many family historians who have not connected with a noble ancestor may just want to know what their family coat-of-arms looks like.  If this is the situation you must know that except for a few cases, there is really no such thing as a standard "coat of arms" for a surname.  A coat of arms is a design usually granted only to a single person not to an entire family or to a particular surname.  Coats of arms are inheritable property, and they generally descend to male lineal descendents of the original arms grantee.  As a result you are advised to seek out a coat-of-arms for the locale where your ancestor resided.

For example: we have an Arnold ancestor who is known to have emigrated to America from the town of Erlangen, in Bavaria, Germany.  Current research shows Erlangen is located in the area of Bavaria known as Middle Franconia.  Upon review of the historic locations for Arnold as noted in one source of armorial bearings we find places in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, The Netherlands and others.   One coat-of-arms is listed as belonging to an Arnold of Franconia, Bavaria.  As such we may conclude that this is the coat-of-arms having some relevance to our ancestor.  He may well be a blood relative of the aforementioned noble Arnold.   He or his ancestor may have been employed by or a serf of the noble Arnold family of that locale.  In some cases the name of the noble family becomes the name of the locale resulting in the ancestor appropriating it a as surname, see Sources and Meanings of the Surname to ascertain whether the surname you are interested in is a locational name.

If you are interested in the armorial bearings of a particular surname we strongly advise that you utilize the resources provided within this area of our web page.  If you have any questions or need any assistance with regard to using heraldry as a means to further or widen your family history research you are welcome to contact us, see About This Webpage.

More About Heraldic bearings

The art of designing, displaying, describing, and recording arms is called heraldry. The use of coats of arms by countries, states, provinces, towns and villages is called civic heraldry.   A Coat of Arms is defined as a group of emblems and figures (heraldic bearings) usually arranged on and around a shield and serving as the special insignia of some person, family, or institution.  Except for a few cases, there is really no such thing as a standard "coat of arms" for a surname.  A coat of arms, more properly called an armorial achievement, armorial bearings or often just arms for short, is a design usually granted only to a single person not to an entire family or to a particular surname.  Coats of arms are inheritable property, and they generally descend to male lineal descendents of the original arms grantee.  The rules and traditions regarding Coats of Arms vary from country to country. Therefore a Coat of Arms for an English family would differ from that of a German family even when the surname is the same. 

Some of the more prominent elements incorporated into a  coat of arms are :

Crest - The word crest is often mistakenly applied to a coat of arms.  The crest was a later development arising from the love of pageantry.  Initially the crest consisted of charges painted onto a ridge on top of the helmet.

Wreath or Torse – The torse is a twist of cloth or wreath underneath and part of a crest. Always shown as six twists, the first tincture being the tincture of the field, the second the tincture of the metal, and so on.

Mantling – The mantling is a drapery tied to the helmet above the shield. It forms a backdrop for the shield.

Helm or Helmet - The helmet or helm is situated above the shield and bears the torse and crest. The style of helmet displayed varies according to rank and social status, and these styles developed over time, in step with the development of actual military helmets.

Shield or Arms - The basis of all coats of arms.  At their simplest, arms consist of a shield with a plain field on which appears a geometrical shape or object.  The items appearing on the shield are known as charges.

Motto - The motto was originally a war cry, but later mottoes often expressed some worthy sentiment. It may appear at the top or bottom of a family coat of arms.

Searching for more information about heraldry? Click on the button at the  right to look at our webpage featuring links   to   websites   with  

a wide variety of arms, crests, and badges.  They may also feature additional heraldry resources as noted in the accompanying descriptions.

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Family History

     We believe that Joseph Ashbury, born 1659, may be the progenitor of this family line in America.  He may have been born in Shropshire, England but positive proof of this is yet to be found.  Joseph married a Rebecca Countis, daughter of James Countis and Mary Green, about 1691 in Maryland.  Of this union only one child our 7^th great-grandmother Rosanna Ashbury has been verified.  Records of St. Luke’s Parish in Church Hiil, Maryland do show a Joseph Ashbury married to a Rebecca Vanderford as baptizing their children between 1737 and 1743.  As such this Joseph Ashbury is probably a son of the aforementioned Joseph and Rebecca Ashbury, and brother of Rosanna.  Joseph Ashbury’s death circa 1715 most likely occurred in Queen Anne’s County, Maryland.

     Rosanna Ashbury is reported to have been born in Maryland around 1691. This event may have occurred within either Dorchester

, Talbot, or Kent counties parts of which were incorporated in to Queen Anne’s county upon its creation in 1706.  Rosanna married Thomas Vanderford, son of George Paul Vanderford and Hester Vanderford (nee?) about 1719 in Queen Anne's Co., Maryland.  Rosanna produced at least six known offspring between 1720 and 1740.  Rosanna (Ashbury) Vanderford passed away in Queen Anne’s County sometime after 1740.  We are descended through her daughter Sarah Vanderford* born circa 1736.

*There is little doubt that our 6^th great-grandmother Sarah Vanderford of Queens Anne’s county, Maryland is descended from the Vanderford family who came to the eastern shore of Maryland in 1660.  http://www.vanderfordfamily.com/html/maryland.htm.  Research shows that the Vandiford surname is exceedingly rare, and there are no records of this surname in Queen Anne’s County, nor any Maryland county. As such her proper surname would be Vanderford.   Most researchers believe that the approximate time Sarah’s birth is circa 1735.  This year is based upon the fact that her husband John Eubanks, Sr. was born in 1735.  This approximate date is likely valid in that we know that Sarah and John produced off-spring as early as 1757.  A through review of the Eastern Shore Vanderford family lineages shows only one person having the given name of Sarah and being born around this time.  That is Sarah daughter of Thomas and Rosanna (Ashbury) Vanderford, who is listed in genealogical records as having died on 4 August 1737.    The fact that a Sarah Vanderford of Queen’s County, Maryland married John Eubanks, Sr. circa 1756 is real, but it appears from current research that no one has found the parents of this Sarah.  Therefore it is most possible that the mystery of Sarah Vanderford may be due to a transcription error as is exemplified by the misspelling of her surname.  In short 4 August 1737 may be the date of her christening rather than her death.  Based upon the specificity of the aforementioned date one must assume it came from a family bible or church record. The family of Thomas Vanderford appears to have attended church in St. Luke’s Parish, located in Queen Anne’s County.  Perhaps a study of the original record will provide a satisfactory answer.

Ancestral Lineage

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individuals with this surname may be reviewed by clicking on this LINK.

JOSEPH¹ ASHBURY was born in 1659. He died in 1715 in Queen Anne's County, Maryland. He married Rebecca Countis, daughter of James Countis and Mary Green about 1691 in Maryland. She was born in 1675 in Maryland. She died in 1749 in Queen Anne's County, Maryland (St. Luke's Parish).

Joseph Ashbury and Rebecca Countis had the following child:

2.                        i. ROSANNA² ASHBURY was born about 1691 in Maryland. She died after 1740 in Queen Anne's County, Maryland. She married Thomas Vanderford ?, son of George Paul Vanderford and Hester Vanderford (nee?) about 1719 in Quenn Anne's Co., Maryland. He was born about 1689 in Talbot County, Maryland. He died in 1767 in Kent County, Delaware.

ROSANNA² ASHBURY (Joseph¹) was born about 1691 in Maryland. She died after 1740 in Queen Anne's County, Maryland. She married Thomas Vanderford ?, son of George Paul Vanderford and Hester Vanderford (nee?) about 1719 in Quenn Anne's Co., Maryland. He was born about 1689 in Talbot County, Maryland. He died in 1767 in Kent County, Delaware.

Thomas Vanderford ? and Rosanna Ashbury had the following children:

i.        THOMAS³ VANDERFORD was born in 1720 in Queen Anne's County, Maryland. He died in 1747 in Kent County, Delaware. He married Jane Emory on 09 Dec 1739 in St. Luke's Parish, Church Hill, Maryland.

ii.      CHARLES VANDERFORD was born about 1726 in Queen Anne's County, Maryland. He died in 1824 in Casey County, Kentuicky.

iii.     SARAH VANDERFORD was born about 1737 in Queen Anne's County, Maryland. She died about 1807 in Ross County, Ohio. She married John Eubanks Sr., son of William Eubanks and Mary Eubanks (nee ?) about 1757 in Maryland. He was born on 12 Oct 1735 in Queen Anne's County, Maryland. He died about 1807 in Ross County, Ohio.

iv.     GEORGE VANDERFORD was born on 19 Jul 1740.

v.      ASHBURY VANDERFORD was born on 29 Jul 1740.

vi.     JOHN VANDERFORD was born in Queen Anne's County, Maryland. He died before 1767.

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Source documents

The documents contained within this “Source Documents Archives” have been located during our research of this family, and used as evidence to prove many of the facts contained within the database of this family’s record.   We have source documents related to the following persons within our database with this surname.

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archive of source documents.  

     Most of these documents can be considered as primary or secondary evidence.  Primary evidence is usually defined as the best available to prove the fact in question, usually in an original document or record.  Secondary evidence is in essence all that evidence which is inferior in its origin to primary evidence. That does not mean secondary evidence is always in error, but there is a greater chance of error.  Examples of this type of evidence would be a copy of an original record, or oral testimony of a record’s contents.  Published genealogies and family histories are also secondary evidence.

     Classifying evidence as either primary or secondary does not tell anything about its accuracy or ultimate value.  This is especially true of secondary evidence.  Thus it is always a good idea to ask the following questions: (1) How far removed from the original is it, (when it is a copy)?; (2) What was the reason for the creation of the source which contains this evidence?; and (3) Who was responsible for creating this secondary evidence and what interest did they have in its accuracy?

SOURCE: Greenwood, Val D., The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, 2^nd edition, Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, MD 21202, 1990, pgs. 62-63

You are welcome to download any of the documents contained within this archive that does not cite a copyright.  Should you encounter a problem obtaining a copy you may get in touch with us via the contact information found at the end of this web-page.

Migration routes

       Tracing our own family’s paths of migration can prove crucial in identifying previous generations and eventually, figuring out where and how they arrived in the “New World” as well as where they eventually settled.  Knowing the network of trails American pioneers traveled can help you guess where to start looking.  The trail map(s) provided below may assist you in understanding the routes that our direct ancestors of this family may have taken to find new homes and opportunities in the vast area now encompassed by the United States.

      During the 17^th, 18^th and 19^th centuries hundreds of thousands of Europeans made the perilous ocean voyage to America.  For many it was an escape from economic hardship and religious persecution.  For most it was an opportunity to start over, own their own land, and make a better future for their descendents.

Immigration records show a number of people bearing the name of ASHBURY, or one of its variants, as arriving in North America between the 17^th and 20^th centuries.  Some of these immigrants were: Robert Ashbury arrived at Virginia in 1637; Francis Ashbury landed at Maryland in 1665; Thomas Ashbury arrived at Maryland in 1676; and John Ashbury came to Virginia in 1705.

Use the following links to find more early immigrants with this surname:

$ Search Ancestry.com Immigration Records; or Free Ship’s Passenger lists at OliveTreeGenealogy.com

Not Applicable

The Development of an Historical Migration Route

It is understood that in many if not all cases we do not know exactly what routes our ancestors took as they migrated throughout the United States.   As such certain assumptions have been utilized to re-create the migration path presented above.  With regard to 18^th and 19^th century land routes we assume that they travelled along few trails and roads that were in existence at the time.  Research shows that a great many of these old paths and trails are today designated as U.S. Highway Routes.  For example, a major east-west route of migration known as the National Road is now U.S. Route 40, and a primary north-south migration route of the 18^th century followed the Great Indian War and Trading Path is now U.S. Route 11.  In some situations the re-created migration route may travel along state routes that connect or run through the seat of a county as that populated place is probably the oldest settlement in the area. The use of water as a migration route is also likely.  For example, during the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries many families travelled west on the Ohio River as they moved on the new lands in Missouri or the Old Northwest Territory.  As such when applicable water routes have been included as the possible migration route.   

Ancestral locations

Researching the locations where our ancestors lived has provided us with valuable evidence needed to fill in the gaps in our family trees.  It has also led us to many interesting facts that enhance the overall picture of each family group.

The names of states and counties on the following list were derived from the known places where the Direct Ancestors in the “Ancestral Lineage” (see above) were born, married, and / or died.

UNITED STATES

MARYLAND

Queen Anne’s County

Use this LINK to find out more about this

ancestral family and the locations listed above.

Where are my

Resources which enhance our knowledge of the places inhabited by our ancestors are almost as important as their names. The LINK to the right will take you to Maps, Gazetteers,   and  other  helpful   resources 

that will assist in discovering Ancestral Locations.  These web sites comprise only a small portion of what is available for researchers interested in learning more about where their ancestors lived.

Images gallery

During our research we have collected images and photographs that are of general interest to a particular family.  Some of them are presented on this website because we believe they tend to provide the reader with additional information which may aid in the understanding of our ancestors past lives.  We have images related to the following persons within our database with this surname.

NONE

This Link will take you to our

collection of family images.  

Use the power of Google™ to find more interesting images about this topic. This button will link you to the Google Images Search   page.   Enter   the   topic   you   are

searching in the box and click “Search Images”. At the “Images” display page you will see the image, as well as the website of which it is associated.

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-- This webpage was last updated on --

01 July 2013