Last Updated : 16 Mar 2009
Furby by Country
England
Counties
Cheshire
Durham
Kent
Lincolnshire
Surrey
Sussex
Yorkshire
Cities
Liverpool
London
Contact
Furbys have been in England for a long time. In 1398 Robert Fereby was "ulnager" (person appointed to examine the quality of woolen goods to be sold) to the king. Some records are even earlier and it would appear that there were at least two independent origins of the name in England, both going back over 600 years. One group is in the north east region around Yorkshire and started out as Firthby or Frithby (the "th" being dropped from about 1500). Another group is in the south east region around Surrey, Kent and Sussex and it would seem that Furbys were in Surrey over 800 years ago.
In the 1881 census for England, there are at least 453 Furbys recorded. See the list of Furbys in the 1881 Census for England under "Furby Records".
Though my own family have been traced back only to south east England, some Furby families show evidence of links between those in the north east and south east.
The menu on the left covers Furby for each county where they have been found plus the two major English cities / metropolitan areas where our Furbys have lived.