Labrow

This is a name of French Huguenot origin and is first recorded in the English register at the very beginning of the 18th Century. The first spelling is believed to be a shortened form of the Heraldic Languedoc surnames Labro Quere or Labrou de Gandolou. The name would appear to be a form of nickname literally for "a brewer". The name has had two entry periods into the United Kingdom, the first as shown, the second being at the time when the life of the French monarchy, and its one hundred and fifty year persecution of the protestants was drawing to a bloody conclusion. The name recordings include John Labrow at the church of St. Sepulchre, London on February 14th 1760, and Anne Catherine Labroue, who married one Lazarus Claudius Morlet, a Frenchman, at the church of St. Mary-Le Bone on August 24th 1779. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of David Labro-(wife Jeanne Amo), which was dated November 21st 1700, as witness at La Patenue French Huguenot Church, London, during the reign of King William 111 of Orange and England, 1689 - 1702. 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.