Re: Origin of surname ??
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In reply to:
Origin of surname ??
2/18/00
A Catholic Encyclopedia tells of the original EBBA the Elder, daughter of Ethelfrid, King of Northumbria, who was forced to go into exile after her father's defeat by Edwin in 616. She was supposed to have been shipwrecked and came ashore at this place (St. Abbs Head). She became a Christian and later a nun at the double monastary at Coldingham by Bp. Finian of Lindesfarne, who died in 661. Ebba the Elder died 25 Aug.683. While at Coldingham she was visited by St. Cuthbert of Lindesfarne, and by King Egfrid (d. 684) and Queen Ermenburga of Northumbria, with whom she later intercededd on behalf of Bp. Wilford of York. At the urging of Adamnan of Iona, she undertook to reform her convent, which was falling away from a strict observance of the rule. She was the Abbess of the convent. Her relics (remains) were translated (renoved?) from Coldingham to Durham in the 11th century. Ebba the Younger, Abbess and martyr, died in Coldingham, Berwick, England in 870. She was martyred, with the whole community, by the Danes, after attempting to buy a reprieve by mutilating her own face. Ebba the Elder's name was given to the area where she hqad her convent, a desolate headland. St. Abbs Head, or St. Abb's Head, (in Scotland)is today the location of the ruined monastary.
This has some flaws, but probably is a close to the origin as anything else. I would appreciate any better information on this also.