Scarbeary Family Website

Scarborough, Scarbrough 

Vikings to Quakers

     In 874 A.D. a group of Vikings (Norsemen) sailed from what is presently Norway to Iceland. They were reputed to be the first permanent settlers of this island. A part of the family left Iceland in 965 A.D. to settle in what is now Scarborough, England. These were the two Icelandic brother, Thorgils and Kormak, who brought their families, friends, and many followers to England. 
     In those days people had only one name, but Thorgils was nicknamed Skarthi (Skaroi). In Old Norse this is said to mean "Hare Lip". There are several versions related to the origin of Scarborough. A popular one being, Scar is a variation of "scaur" meaning rocky cliff. "Borough" of course, meaning town. An alternative comes from Thorgils nichname, Skarthi (Skaroi) comes the names Skardeburg, Skaroaborg and Scarborough. 
     The terrain was desolate and they built the settlement on the flat fronting the great cliff. Kormak died about 967. He was a poet as well as a warrior. A saga credited to him and written down in 1351 tells of the two brothers who harried Ireland, Wales, England and Scotland. They were thought to be very distinguished men. They first established the Fort called "Skardeborg". 
     They raided Scotland, performing many great deeds and they had a mighty following. Thus the settlement became Sklarthi's burh, or later, Skardeborg or Skardaborg. The surname Scarborough and its variants, Scarbrough, Scarbro, Scarboro, Scarburg, Scarbrow, etc, has its origin in Skardeborg. 
     In the early eleventh century, Snorro Sturluson described Skardeburg as "a town of wooden huts built upon the shore and sheltered by the great cliff. The town survived many traumas. 
     A group migrated to North Walsham, County Norfolk, England, decending down from Henry Scarburg III to Capt. Edmund Scarburg who came to Virginia c1620 
     A group migrated to Solebury, England and descended down from Isaac Scarborough, c1560, to John Scarbrough Sr., who brought his young son, John Jr., to America to become our first American Quakers. 
     This a a compendium I gleaned from several different sources. It is rearranged and restated. The separation of the clan in Walsham and Solebury is my own deduction. 
     Lowell E. Scarborough 
     Appendix A 
     Some Quaker Families 
     Roger S. Boone 
     1991 Published by Marjorie Morgan, vol's 1-7