From Polly Rubery  (Our Rowberry cousin in England)  -- "The name (Rowberry) is subject to a great many spellings, all rendering it more or less correctly phonetically, depending too on the accent of the speaker. In the past most people were illiterate and entries in parish registers, and later the civil registers, depended entirely on the interpretaion given to the name by the person making the entry.  So far I have found about 150 variantions.  Linda (Ames) w ill tell you that she has already found your family spelt RAWBERRY and RHOBERY in the US censuses!  A good trick is to get a group of people (work or club collegues) who are not familiar with the name to write it down, just from you saying it.  You will be very surprised at the variations that you get! 

There is one family in Hereford going by the name of ROEBURY, but ROEBERRY does not survive, although I have found it in the past! 

The origin of the name is given by Reaney in his "Dictionary of English Surnames" as the old English for "Rough Hill" and as derived from a place of this name.  However it is quite a common place name in Southern England, and so it is difficult to say if there is more than one original source of the family name.  However some of the earliest references to the name are in the parish of Tenbury, right on the Herefordshire/Worcestershire border. 

(?) is fairly certain that your family descends from these people, and therefore the name source would be fairly local.  However the position is further confused in this area by the fact that as it was a fairly common local surname, it also became attached later to farms, etc, that were held by members of the family.  So it becomes a sort of "chicken & egg"  situation (which came first?). 

In the last week I have received some very exciting information from a fellow GOON (member of the Guild of One-Name Studies).  This shows that the farm called today "Rowberry Court" lying in the parish of Bodenham just north of Hereford City, was so called very early on.  I quote: 

"Ruberh (1148-55), Rughebur' (c1230) Rubir' (1249), Roberwe (1283), Roubury (1361) and Rowberye (1579)" 

As these refs seem to predate surname usage it would seem that this place name might well be the original source, of at least this branch of the ROWBERRY clan!  As there are no real hills in this area it is possible that the place name originally was  from one of the alternative meanings of "bury" from Middle English " buri, biri, beri" =  "a manor" .  I will have to do some more research on this!" 

Thanks, Polly! 

John Rowberry and Mary Parry were married May 1st, 1817 in Bishops Frome, Herefordshire England. They had 6 children born to them in England. They joined the Church of Later-Day Saints after hearing a Mormon missionary, Wilford Woodruff, speak. It was shortly after that they decided to emigrate to America.  

John and Mary left England around 1841, aboard the Issac Newton. They arrived in New Orleans, and from there they left to join other Mormons in Nauvoo, Illinois. John and Mary both died in Nauvoo, just 20 days apart in 1844. Their oldest son, John, married Hannah Elizabeth Barber Jenkins in 1845 Nauvoo, Illinois, Hannah was the widow of Edward Jenkins, and the mother of 3 children. John and Hannah came to Salt Lake, Utah in 1849 with Ezra T. Benson and settled in an area that was to be called Tooele. Hannah died October 3, 1852 in Tooele.   

Eight months later, John married Mary Ann Gollaher. Mary Ann was the first child of William Culbertson and Elizabeth (Orton) Gollaher.  The Gollaher's had also made the long trek from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake in 1849. John was to take another wife, Mary Ann’s sister, Harriet Frances Gollaher, just a little over 3 yrs after marring Mary Ann. Four years later he married Charlotte Clark, the daughter of Thomas Henry and Charlotte (Gayley) Clark. John’s wives and their families each lived in their own homes. Mary Ann lived in Tooele, while Harriet Frances and Charlotte lived in Grantsville.  

John Rowberry was a Bishop of the Church, a Mayor, Judge, State Representive and the Post Master of Tooele. On the 16th of April, 1884, John Rowberry died of heart disease. At his funeral every seat was occupied, many relatives being present. Among the speakers were Bishop T. Atkin, Jr., R. Meiklejohn, A. Parker, T. Atkin, Sr., S.W. Bryan, Wm Jeffries, Thomas Lee and Bishop Moses Martin, who all spoke of the worth and faithfulness, and the good example given them by the teachings and life of the deceased. His remains were followed to the cemetery by 61 carriages.