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ArchivesMillborough and Milbrey
in reply to a message by Sleeping Beauty
Millborough is not the name of a town. It is the name of a medieval saint. There were three sisters who were all daughters of King Merewald of Mercia back around 700 A.D. who became abbesses and then were venerated as saints. In Old English their names were Mildthryth, Mildburh, and Mildgyth. In modern English the first one became Mildred. The second became Millborough or Milbrey. Mildgyth was the least famous and her name seems not to have survived to modern times.
Withycombe's The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names says that Milborough "survived in Shropshire until the 18th century." What no one seems to have noticed is that the name, in the form Milbrey or Milbry, has survived on the other side of the Atlantic until the present day. Though rare, there are examples of women named Milbrey in states such as Virginia, Tennessee, and Texas from colonial times until the last decade. I have met one of them personally myself. :)
Withycombe's The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names says that Milborough "survived in Shropshire until the 18th century." What no one seems to have noticed is that the name, in the form Milbrey or Milbry, has survived on the other side of the Atlantic until the present day. Though rare, there are examples of women named Milbrey in states such as Virginia, Tennessee, and Texas from colonial times until the last decade. I have met one of them personally myself. :)
This message was edited 8/25/2007, 3:37 PM
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If anyone is wondering why there are two different forms, it is the same reason some cites are -bury, and others -borough — these are the derived from the oblique and nominative declensions respectively. Circumstances will dictate which form becomes standard once the declensions fall out of use, e.g. we will frequently hear about the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Canterbury Cathedral, in both these instances, Canterbury will have been in the oblique case, so the -bury form becomes standardized for the city name. An oblique declension becoming the normal form is something that happens generally with the names of women (women's names of this period are recorded far less frequently, and so it is far more likely that an individual will only be recorded in an oblique case).
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Thank you so much for this post from over a decade ago! I’ve always heard a corny family story about where my name came from (my mother, grandmother, 3rd great grandmother and 5th great grandmother were all Milbrey)...from Tennessee. It is most definitely a family name for many of my cousins who also descended from my 5th great grandmother. Happy to learn I’m named after a medieval saint instead!
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