Gilbourne Trees

including Gillborn, Gilborn, Gilborne, Gilbourn, Gilburn etc

Last update: September 11 - Additions to all trees, particularly Ireland (Tree 6), and U.S.A. (Tree 7). Improvements to this page give better definition to the various familes in U.S.A (Tree 7) and Unattached Twigs (Tree 0).

November 09 - Restructuring of site to differentiate between our Family and one name study, and to differentiate between different ONS families by varying the banner.

Sept 09: inclusion of information from the 1911 UK and Ireland censuses; many new pages;

The Name

Gilbourne is a relatively uncommon name, based on the East Midlands in the 19th and 20th Centuries, but in earlier times based in Kent and Yorkshire. From Yorkshire, they also spread to Ireland. The origins of the name is unclear. There is a village of Golborne near Warrington in Lancashire, but if this were the origin then the name would be expected to be common close to the village. This is not the case, the name is rarely found in the North-West of England. GOLBO(U)RNE is a name in its own right and though not common, is found in the North West. (More common in the North-West are GILLEBURN and its variants, which as yet has not been regarded as a variant of GILBORNE. One branch if GILLIBURN in the North East did change its name and become GILBURN.) The name may also have evolved from the more common name KILBO(U)RNE, which is itself based on the place namne KILBURN. There are three villages with this name - one in North London, one in North Yorkshire , and the third in Derbyshire. The last two of these are respectively near the origins of Tree 8 and Trees 1 & 2, and either or both could be the origin of the name. This story has developed from a family tree into a one name study and many of the families listed in these pages do not (yet?) have proven links to our family. There are numerous individuals whose exact place on the tree is not known, however most of them will probably link to the following families:

Tree 1. Descendants of Robert Gilbourne and Elizabeth.
GILBOURNE count: 328
This couple baptised at least 6 children between 1768 and 1785 in Duffield Derbys. They are the start of our Gilbourne ancestors, and all Tudors, Griffins, Bevans, Reeve etc link into this tree. The family only remained in Duffield for one generation, probably coming from Staffordshire. Not all of the children have been traced but Samuel Gilborne moved to Brinsley in Notts, and there were still some of his descendants in the same village 200 years later.

Tree 2. Descendants of Richard Gilbourne and Margaret.
GILLBORN count: 149
This couple baptised in Lenton, Notts, 5 children before Richard's death in 1733. It is from this branch of the family that all the Gillborn surnames originate. It is difficult to imagine that these first two trees, both originating in Nottinghamshire are not related, but no link has yet been found.

Tree 3. Descendants of Francis Gilborn and Mary Joyce.
GILBORN count: 21
No birth or christening record has yet been found for Francis Gilborn, and the first record is the marriage of the couple in Nottingham in 1781. A baptism in Nottingham St. Mary church on 19 July 1755 has been transcribed by Notts F.H.S. as 'Francis, son of Ann TILMAN'. It is possible that it is JILMAN, but inspection of the register proved inconclusive. GILBORN has been recorded as JILBORN and GIL(L)MAN on a number of occasions. It is very likely that Francis should be linked to Tree 2, but this cannot be proved.

Francis Tilman/Jilman baptismal registration

Decide for yourself whether this is the baptism of Francis Jilman or Francis Tilman. The highlighted portions show other instances of 'J' and 'T' on the same page.

Francis and Mary registered the births of 8 children. This is a relatively short tree. Although not all descendants have yet been traced, the Gilborn name in this branch seems to have ended in the mid 1800s.

Tree 4. Descendants of Andrew Gilborne and Margaret.
GILBORN count: 16
The smallest tree on the site, just four generations before the name Gilborn was lost. Andrew was a marine, and present on the first fleet (of convicts) who sailed to Australia. His birth has not been traced. His son William Prideaux was one of the first births to be registered in New South Wales. It is possible that this tree links into the Irish families of Tree 6, but it is also possible that they originated in the Lambeth area of London. This is where William Prideaux GILBORN and his children eventually lived. Samuel GILBORN was buried in Lambeth St. Mary 2 January 1791 and Rebecca GILBORN 1 November 1792. No age is given for either. Could they have been Andrew's parents? ... or siblings?

Tree 5. Descendants of John Hornby GILBOURNE and Mary Ann Clarke.
GILBOURNE count: 39
This is the origin of a Gilbourne family that emigrated to Australia being investigated by Graham Wright, who supplied much of the Australian descendant information included here. The First record in Jamaica is the baptism of John and Mary's second son, William Selvin GILBOURNE at Falmouth Methodist Society in 1827. It is not known when the parents came to Jamaica, nor where they married. Their grandson, William Daniel GILBOURNE was a seaman who married Mary Philomena (Minnie) JOHNSON (nee Jordan) in Rhyl, North Wales in 1881, but all their know children were born in Australia. After Daniel's death Minnie and her daughter Lydia later emigrated again, this time to San Francisco, U.S.A. William's brother, Philip William, also emigrated to Australia.
It is likely that Allen Fitzpatrick GILBOURNE who emigrated from Jamaica to the United States in 1912 will fit into this tree.

Tree 6. Descendants of Edward GILBORNE of Queens County, Ireland
GILBORNE count: 49
Many of the male members of the family enlisted in the British army, and while stationed in the the U.K. they appear in censuses and Birth, Marriage and Death records. Much of the detail of their lives has been garnered from newspapers, particularly The (London) Times. The Gilborne name is believed to be now extinct as a surname in the known branch of the family, the last bearing the name being Edward Charles William Gilborne, who died in 1920. William Percival however, wrote in December 1801:

"I have a numerous family who depend for support, and their promotion in life, solely on the emoluments of my present office. My eldest son, a young man of nineteen years of age ..."

Only three children are known, and they were born 18 years apart. It seems there are several children still to be found.

It is likely that Charles Gilborne belonged to this family, but this has not yet been conclusivelyproved. (He and his descendants are included in the count of the name in this tree.). His daughter Louisa Elizabeth married Thomas William Sixsmith in Dublin in 1860. Their grandson, Eric Keir Gilborne Sixsmith was born in Cardiff in 1904 and after joining The Cameronians in 1924 rose to become Assistant Chief of Staff, (Organisation and Training), Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers, Europe 1957-1961, retiring in 1961.

The Gilbourne name in Ireland is being researched by Patrick Hughes, who believes that one branch can be traced back to Sir Nicholas Gilbourne and his family in Charing, Kent in the 1600s (tree 8). Patrick himself belongs to tree 9.

Tree 7. Work in progress - Gilbournes in the U.S.A.
GILBORNE / GILBURN / GILBORN etc. count: 129 The majority of these families immigrated to the U.S.A in the 19th and early 20th century, particularly from Ireland, and as such could be expected ultimately to belong to other trees. However not all came from Ireland, Lydia Gilbourne, who married William Podesta in San Francisco, came from Australia with her mother, who had been born in England. Lydia is included in tree 5. Allen Gilborne emigrated with his wife and mother from Jamaica to the U.S.A. and would also be expected to belong to Tree 5. Lars Gilborn came from Norway.

Among those coming from Ireland, Michael Patrick (sometimes Michael D.) Gilbourne of Utah is included in tree 9.

Others coming from Ireland but who can not yet be attached to any larger tree include:

Henry Gilborne came from Ireland in the first half of the 19th century and settled first in Chautauqua County, New York, where he married Elizabeth McFee. All their eight known children were born in New York, but later later moved his family to Crawford County, Pennsylvania, where they remained for many years.

Brothers Henry and Benjamin W. Gilborne also came from Ireland, in the mid 1800s and settled first in upstate New York before moving West and settling in Illinois. Davis Gilborne who followed a similar route before moving again to South Dakota may also have been related.

Later immigrants were Robert A. Gilbourne who entered the U.S. in 1875. He married Canada-born Sarah (surname unknown) about 1880 before moving to Brooklyn. This family has not been found after 1910.

Robert Gilburn who entered the U.S. in 1881. He married Johannah (Annie) Callaghan of Connecticut before settling in Manhattan, N.Y.

A second Robert Gilburn came from Limerick in 1885. He married Mary Bowen in Cook County, Illinois, before settling in Buchanan, Missouri.

Tree 8. The tree of Sir Nicholas GILBOURNE of Charing, Kent.
This tree starts in Yorkshire, before moving to Kent and London, and later to Ireland too. It is expected that tree 6 will be linked to this tree, but the link cannot yet be proven. Thanks are due to Patrick Hughes who has provided much of the information on the Irish portion of this tree.
*** Tree 8 is constructed largely from secondary and tertiary sources, and much is still to be verified. As such, much of it should be regarded as provisional. ***

The older parts of the tree are largely that from the Visitation of Kent, 1619, with additions from the tree constructed by Sir William Betham held in the National Archives of Ireland. These trees contain information from sources that were later destroyed in a fire. Later additions have been made by this author using Church records, civil registration and Census records.

Tree 9. Descendants of Robert GILBOURNE and Johannah MEEHAN
GILBOURNE count: 47
This couple married in Mahoonagh, Co. Limerick, Ireland 26 Jul 1822. Their descendants were concentrated around Ballinarouga, Limerick, for many years. but individuals later migrated to France and the U.S.A. Patrick Hughes has provided the details for most of this tree.

'Tree 0.' Family Groups whose tree is unknown
GILBOURNE etc count: 228
These indiviiduals are not really a tree, but are grouped together here simply because it is not known to which tree they belong, or if the tree is reasonably obvious, it is not known just how they are linked. A summary of the family groups is given here.

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