Webb History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

When the ancestors of the Webb family arrived in England following the Norman Conquest of 1066, they brought their name with them. It is a name for a weaver which was in turn derived from the Old English word webbe, meaning a woven cloth, and was used to indicate someone employed in making such fabric. 1

Early Origins of the Webb family

The surname Webb was first found in Wiltshire where they held a family seat anciently from about the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066. “This name is confined south of a line drawn from the Wash to the Dee. It is most numerous in Somerset and Wiltshire, in the west of England; but is also well represented in Suffolk in the east of England and in Northamptonshire in the midlands.” 2

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 list early spellings and some of the first recordings of the family: Adam le Webbe in Essex; and Elyas le Webbe in Buckinghamshire. 3

The founder of the Dorset branch of the family was William Webb, of Salisbury, merchant, in the reign of Henry VIII. “By marriage, William, the son of the founder, obtained Motcombe, in com. Dorset. Sir John Webb, in the early part of King James I.’s reign, purchased Canford estate, for 14,000/.” 4

In Gloucestershire, another branch of the family was found at Hatherop. “By the marriage of Mary, the heiress of the Bloomer family, to Sir John Webb, this property was acquired ; and within my memory has passed away by the marriage of the heiress of the Webbs to the Ponsonby family.” 4