Ewbanks

This surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin and is a topographical name for a dweller by the yew-bank, deriving from the Olde English pre 7th Century "iw", yew, with the Middle English "banke", bank or ridge. Topographical surnames were among the earliest created since both natural and man-made features in the landscape provided easily recognisable distinguishing names. The surname dates back to the mid 13th Century (see below). Variant forms of the surname range from Ewbanke, Ewbanck, Ebanks, Ewbanks and Ewbanche, to Ubank. London Church Records show the marriage of Mydleffe Ewbancke to Margery Banester on July 5th 1579 at St. Margaret Lothbury, and the marriage of Johis Ewbank to Elizabetha Rugg on February 19th 1625 at St. Martin in the Fields, Westminster. A Coat of Arms granted to a Ewbank family in Everton, Lancashire, is black, three gold chevrons interlaced in base, on a gold chief pellets, the Crest being out of a red ducal coronet a gold dragon's head. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Waldef de Yuebanc, which was dated circa 1258 in the "Place Names of Cumberland", during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "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.