The 1841 Census of England and Wales reported 747 persons with the surname Lazenby and 3 with the surname Lezenby. The name Lezenby appears to be a variant spelling used occasionally by members of the Lazenby family who settled in Blackburn, Lancashire.
The 750 persons surnamed Lazenby or Lezenby resided in 1841 as follows:[1]
| Yorkshire | 622 |
| Durham | 40 |
| Middlesex | 29 |
| Lancashire | 24 |
| all other | 35 |
The overwhelming predominance of the name in Yorkshire supports the idea that the surname Lazenby is based on the place name. The village of Lazenby is in Yorkshire near Middlesbrough. According to Wikipedia, "Lazenby is very small, and has just one general store, two pubs, and a social club." It is an ancient village of Danish origin. In the Domesday Book it was called Leisinchbi. In 1841 it had a population of 57.[2]
The parents of the immigrant Cornelius Lezenby were Richard and Jane, according to his marriage and baptismal records.[3] The 1851 census reported Richard Lazenby age 68, born at Hunton, Yorkshire.[4] Using findmypast.com and familysearch.org, I looked for the baptism of Richard Lazenby around 1782-3. Before 1794 Hunton records were recorded at Hornby, 2.4 miles east, or Patrick Brompton, about 3.0 miles southeast. I searched these communities, and also Hauxwell, 2.3 miles to the northwest. I found only one record that fit: Richard son of Dorothy Lazenby, baptized in 1784 at Patrick Brampton. The record identified the father as John Mudd.[5] This record gives the appearance of a child born to parents not married to each other. The records for Hunton and vicinity do not reveal a Lazenby married to a Dorothy. There was a Dorothy Lazenby baptized at Patrick Brampton in 1766,[6] child of William Lazenby. He had children baptized from 1748 to 1762 at nearby Hornby. His wife’s name is not given in the record. Hornby records report the burial of a William Lazenby in 1790, age 75.[7] A William Lazenby was baptized at Patrick Brampton in 1725, son of William.[8] Either the baptismal or burial record could be for the William Lazenby father of Dorothy, or they could both be, and the burial record overestimated his age by ten years. Hunton is about 37 miles west of Lazenby.
WILLIAM LAZENBY was born about 1714-5, according to the burial record, or shortly before baptism at Patrick Brampton, Yorkshire, on 20 October 1725. If the latter record is the correct identification, his father’s name was WILLIAM LAZENBY. William Lazenby of Hunton, carpenter, died on 6 March 1790 and was buried in the church yard at Hunton on 8 March.
William Lazenby had at least seven children, whose baptisms and burials were recorded at Saint Mary’s Parish, Hornby, except for the last, Dorothy, recorded at Hunton. Confusion is caused by the report of the burial of a child on 29 February 1759 - there were only 28 days in February that year. On the same page, in sequence, appear the burial of another child and the baptism of a third. As some other sources indicate 1760 to be the year for some of these events, I will assume the year is in error, and they all occurred in 1760. Perhaps it had slipped the parson’s mind that New Years’ Day had been moved from March 25 to January 1 in 1752.
William Lazenby was a carpenter, in the village of Hunton, which in 2001 had a population of 420. Of his seven known children, at least three died in childhood. The year 1760 was a particularly tragic year, when he buried two children.
Wiliam Lazenby had the following children:
1Census Returns of England and Wales, 1841, The National Archives of the UK: Public Record Office, Kew, Surrey, England, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 18 December 2011).
2“Lazenby,” Wikipedia, accessed: 19 December 2011.
3"England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 18 December 2011), St Mary the Virgin, Blackburn, Lancashire, Cornelius Lazenby, 1821. Church of England, Record Office, Chester, "Cheshire Parish Registers, 1538-2000," database, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 25 May 2018), St Mary, Stockport: Marriage, Lazenby-Wilson, 1841
4Census Returns of England and Wales, 1851, Piece: 2258; Folio: 328; Page: 1, Richard Lezenby family; digital images, The National Archives of the UK: Public Record Office, Kew, Surrey, England, Ancestry (ancestry.com : accessed 18 December 2011).
5"Yorkshire Baptisms," database, Find My Past (findmypast.com : accessed 26 June 2018), Richard Lazenby, 1784. Cleveland, North Yorkshire & South Durham Family History Society, "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," Patrick Brampton, 1784; Richard Lazonby.
6"England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," Patrick Brampton, Yorkshire, Dorothy Lazenby, 1766.
7
"National Burial Index for England & Wales," database, Find My Past (findmypast.com : accessed 26 June 2018), William Lazenby, 1790; Cleveland Family History Society. "Yorkshire, Bishop's Transcripts Of Burials," digital image, Find My Past (findmypast.com : accessed 26 June 2018), William Lazenby, 1790; Borthwick Institute for Archives
8North Yorkshire County Record Office, "Yorkshire Baptisms," digital image, Find My Past (findmypast.com : accessed 2 December 2014), William Lazenby, 1725
9"England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," Hornby by Bedale, Yorkshire, Margaret Lazenby, 1748.
10"Yorkshire, Archbishop Of York Marriage Licences Index, 1613-1839," database, Find My Past (findmypast.com : accessed 26 June 2018), Spence-Lazenby, 1768; Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York. "England Marriages, 1538–1973," index, Family Search (familysearch.org : accessed 28 May 2018), Hornby by Bedale, Yorkshire, Spence-Lazenby, 1768
11"England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," Hornby by Bedale, Yorkshire, ________ Lazenby, 1753.
12"England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," Hornby by Bedale, Yorkshire, Ann Lazenby, 1756.
13"Yorkshire, Bishop's Transcripts Of Burials," Ann Lazenby, 1759.
14"Yorkshire, Bishop's Transcripts Of Burials," Richard Lazenby, 1759.
15"England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," Hornby by Bedale, Yorkshire, William Lazenby, 1760.
16"England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," Richard Lazenby, 1762.
17"Yorkshire, Bishop's Transcripts Of Burials," Richard Lazenby, 1764.
Church of England. Record Office, Chester. "Cheshire Parish Registers, 1538-2000." Database. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2018.
"England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975." Database. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2011.
"England Marriages, 1538–1973." Index. Family Search. familysearch.org : 2018.
National Archives of the U.K. "Census Returns of England and Wales 1841." Digital images. Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2011.
________: "Census Returns of England and Wales 1851." Ancestry. ancestry.com : 2011.
"National Burial Index for England & Wales." Database. Find My Past. findmypast.com : 2018.
North Yorkshire County Record Office. "Yorkshire Baptisms." Digital image. Find My Past. findmypast.com : 2014.
"Yorkshire, Archbishop Of York Marriage Licences Index, 1613-1839." Database. Find My Past. findmypast.com : 2018.
"Yorkshire Baptisms." Database. Find My Past. findmypast.com : 2018. Cleveland, North Yorkshire & South Durham Family History Society.
"Yorkshire, Bishop's Transcripts Of Burials." Digital image. Find My Past. findmypast.com : 2018.