Halliberton

This interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational name from Halberton in Devonshire, recorded as "Halsbretone" in the Domesday Book of 1086 and as "Hauberton" in the 1188 Pipe Rolls of the county. The placename derives from the Olde English pre 7th Century elements "haesel", hazel, "bearu", grove, wood, with "tun", village, homestead, enclosure; hence "homestead by a hazel grove". During the Middle Ages when migration for the purpose of job-seeking was becoming more common, people often took their former village name as a means of identification, thus resulting in a wide dispersal of the name. The surname has many spelling variations ranging from Holburton, Halliberton and Halburton to Alleburton and Alliberton. Recordings of the surname from London Church Registers include: the marriage of George Halliburton and Elizabeth Rosse on September 10th 1631 at St. Bride's, Fleet Street; the marriage of James Alleburton and Hanah Bayler on September 22nd 1651 at St. Margaret Pattens; and the christening of James, son of Andrew and Ann Haliburton, on August 4th 1728 at St. Botolph without Aldersgate. A Coat of Arms granted to the family is a gold shield, on a blue bend between three black boars' heads erased, three gold lozenges, the Crest being a negro's head and neck in profile couped at the shoulders and armed with a helmet proper. The Motto reads as "Watch well". The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Thomas Holberton, which was dated May 21st 1599, marriage to Thomasina Fox, at Ugborough, Devonshire, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, known as "Good Queen Bess", 1558 - 1603. 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.