Firstly, this 'unusual' forename is almost
certainly a surname. The possibility is that a
Miss Limburgh married into the family and her
surname was used for the male descendants.
As a surname, this spelling is not listed in
my source books. However, P H Reany and R M
Wilson in A Dictionary of English Surnames (1995)
and C W Bardsley in A Dictiona of English and
Welsh Surnames (1988 reprint of 1901 edn) have
entries for Limbury and its variants, Limbrey and
Limbery. Both suggest that the surname derives
from the hamlet of Limbury in the parish of
Luton, Bedfordshire, meaning 'a fortified place
or stronghold on the river Lea' - a Celtic river
name plus the Old English ‘burgh'. A burgh
could be an Iron-Age hill-fort, Roman or Anglo-Saxon
fortification or a fortified house. As this place
name element is also spelt 'borough', 'burgh',
'brough' or 'bury' it follows that Limborough
could be an unlisted variation of Limbury. One
might therefore expect to find early references
to this surname in Bedfordshire and beyond.
Secondly, the 1881 National Census Index on
CDROM produced 131 Limbury entries, including
Limbury & Limbrey, etc. only eight were in
Bedfordshire with 13 in Buckinghamshire, 39 in
Nottingham and others in London, Warwickshire and
elsewhere. A forename search of Oxfordshire only
produced Limbrough Turner in Finstock, nr
Charlbury. This is near Shipton under Wychwood
and both are near the county boundary with
Gloucestershire on the west. Gloucester produced
nothing.
Thirdly, until the Berkshire parish registers
are available on a computer database, finding
references to Limborough as a forename is not at
all easy.
