Speculation of the Origin of the Name “NEWBY”

 

The endings of many English names devolved from settlers languages who arrived at various times e.g. The ‘ton’ as in Southampton was of Saxon Origin and Borough – shortened or corrupted to “burg” originated from the language of the Normans (France). By as in NewBY is the corrupted or shortened form of “berie”, a fort of Scandinavian origin.

The Fjords of Norway with relatively small pieces of fertile land, surrounded by mountains, were suitable areas for settlements, but became overcrowded, resulting in the Vikings undertaking the voyage to the east coast of England. The only form of transport was the open boat so only able bodied men undertook the voyage.

On landing in England the groups built forts on raised ground, Hillocks, from where they could defend themselves. From here they stole from the local population, raped and abducted the women etc and formed settlements living off the land and finally integrating with the local population.

In view of the above, it could seem likely, that the name “Newby” originated from the name “Newberie” i.e. the one from the New Berie (New Fort). This is only speculation and will more than likely never be known for certain.

 

By John Newby Travers & Richard Styan Newby (Dick).

 

Any comment please email ken at newby dot co dot za.