The name has several spelling in the genealogical record: Harber, Harbor, Harbour,
and Arbar1. All may or may not be related, for the old English meaning
of the name is for the occupation of 'The harbourer', one who shelters or harbours
people, one who provides lodging, in Olde French: hergerge, a lodging, a house.
Without an actual
record of how the name began, we may draw a conclusion that it is derived from
those who may have been inn keepers or individual families that offered protection
from foe and the
elements for others. Many of the names relating to European heritage have begun
because of an occupation, a trade, a place or an action. So the Harbour name
seems to have been
placed in usage for many persons not related by kinship but rather by some form
of haven
or respite given to others.
In the court of Hustings, London, between A.D. 1258 to A.D. 16882, there appears in A.D. 1319 the name Augustine le Herberer on the Calendar of Wills. In Buckinghamshire, England, the name Geoffry John Herbour appears in the Rotuli Hundredorum for the year A.D. 1279. In the Curia Regis Rolls the name Geoffrey le Arbrer is listed for Middlesex, England in 12053. In The History of St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London, England, the name Richard le Erbrer appears in 13154. In A Dictionary of Surnames the definition of the Harbour name is given as: 'Harber: English: Metonymic occupational name for a keeper of a lodging house, from late Olde English, herebeorg shelter, lodging (from here army + beorg shelter)5. There is also a reference to a cognitive German form: Herberg (er), Herbrig, Herbrich6. The dictionary lists several variations of the name: Harbo(u)r, Arber, Harberer; Harbage, Herbage, Harbidge, Harbisher7.
The Harbour family name is said to have dwellings for several hundred years in Herefordshire, England. One site on the Internet touts that the Harbour name is a Suffolk, England family tracing its Anglo Saxon origin to before the year A.D. 1100. But neither of these has been substantiated. There seems to be quite a number of Harbours throughout the English historical record.
The branch of the Harbour Family with which we are concerned traces back to Thomas Harbour who it is believed came to the British Colonies between 1690-1715. His date of birth has not been accurately places although some place it at 1675.. Most of the genealogical records in the United States claim that Thomas is from Wales. This in spite of the fact that Harbour is an English name. From his arrival in the New World there is ample record of his life after 1728 and his genealogical descendents up to the present day. But preceeding 1728 there is a void.
We do know that in about 1715, Thomas married Sarah Witt in Charles City, Virginia. The Witt Family was believed to have been Huguenot. More recently David Whitt compiled a complete history of the "Ancestors and Descendants of William Whitt, (1775-1850) Portrait of an American Family", in which he conclusively proved that the family of Thomas Harbour's wife Sarah Witt-Whitt originally emigrated from England to Virgina Circa 1666.
Sources
2. Ibid. Page 216.
3. Ibid. Page 216.
4. Ibid. Page 216.
5. Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges. "A Dictionary of Surnames". Oxford University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-19-211592-8, page 239.
6. Ibid. Page 239. 7. Ibid. Page 239.
Copyright © 2001 Harbour-Holst Genealogy. All rights reserved.
Revised:
March 12, 2006
.