Family History Journey in England

John, blacksmith, son of William, wainwright, of Clifton, who was of a rather swarthy appearance, and therefore his descendents, might have acquired any one of the following fixed surnames: John Black, John Smith, John Wilson, John Wills, John Williams, John Willis, John Williamson, John Wilkins, John Wilkie, John Wilkinson, John Willet, John Wilcox, John Fitzwilliam, John Wainwright, John Wright, John de Clifton, John Clifton or even John Cliff, or John Brown, John Brawn or John Moore.

The Baronial Court rolls of Penwortham in Lancashire, which summarise the fines or fees paid by local people on 20th February 1324, illustrate the rarity of surnames and show the various ways our ancestors were identified:

Matilda de Mirescogh, for entry to 1 rood of land in Claghton ... 6d
Elen de Torbock, for respite of suit until the feast of St. Michael ... 2s 4d
Henry le Vescy, for breach of the peace ... 3d
Henry, son of William del Plat, for the same ... 4d
Robert del Howe, for unjust detention ... 3d
Magot la Leuedy, for bad ale ... 3d
Thomas Busshel, because he did not prosecute ... 3d
Richard, son of Amerie, because he did not prosecute ... 3d
Robert, son of Nicholas, because he did not prosecute, and of William, his brother ... 3.
Alice, wife of John Ploume, for bad ale ... 4d
The wife of Adam, the Miller, for bad ale ... 4d
Avice, daughter of Agnes de Chernok, for the same ... 3d
Cecily, daughter of the (le) Hirdemon [Herdman], for the same ... 5d
Thomas, son of Adam del More [of the moor], for breach of the peace ... 3d
Adam, son of Henry del Crok, for entry to 2 acres of land ... 6d
Matilda, wife of Simon Ball, for bad ale ... 4d
William de Frees, for respite of his homage until the feast of St. Michael ... 40d
Robert, son of the same William, for the same until the same feast ... 40d

Some Court Rolls of the Lordships, Wapentakes and Demesne Manors of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster (vol. 41) transcribed and translated by the Record Society for the Publication of Original Documents relating to Lancashire and Cheshire, 1901

The origins of English surnames are then various. It could reflect the personal or given name of an ancestor (usually male), or their occupation, or the place or locality where they lived, or it may be a descriptive of their appearance or character. Gradually, prepositions, whether in French or English, such as le, de, del [of the], of or the/ye, were dropped. In itself a particular surname may provide a clue to our English genealogy, but it rarely provides definitive information. Sound and pronunciation at the time surnames were first written down is more important than spelling. Spelling could vary enormously according to who and where was writing it down for the first time. Appearances in locally produced documents is more likely to be accurate for sound, than national or centrally-produced documents - but so much might depend on the learning or local knowledge of the original scribe.

The practice of using a parent's personal name as a surname (alone, or possessive or with a prefix or suffix to indicate the relationship) is common amongst very many societies and communities.

In England, the practice of adding -s to a male personal name seems to be more usual in the south and west, while adding -son appears in the north and the east. The influence of Germanic and Scandinavian naming patterns are being felt where the addition of -son or -son is common. Does the -s reflect the grammar of southern Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, and the -son reflect life under the Danelaw? The French influence is reflected in surnames beginning with Fitz- from "fils de" (son of) which became more popular in Ireland.

There are however traditions within the island of Britain. The Scottish practice (imported from Ireland) of prefacing a personal name with Mc- or Mac- was not taken up in the southern part of the island, and the Welsh used prefix "ap", which would eventually give rise to Pritchard (ap Richard), Price (ap Rhys or Reece), Probert (ap Robert), Powell or Howell (ap Hwyl), Parry (ap Harry), and also Hughes and Davis/Davies. If this practice was in use in pre-Anglo-Saxon times, then there is no evidence at the moment to support this. Families in England with these surnames are believed to have ancestry in Wales - even if it may be very distant.

Matronymic surnames were part of Anglo-Saxon and Viking systems, with a woman's surname arising from her father's personal name and the suffix -dotter or -datter, and the Welsh system of prefacing the father's name with verch or ferch, but none are not reflected in any popular English surnames.

Adding the diminutives -kins (or even -kis), -cock or -let, referring to the actual or perceived smallness of someone, to personal names as a nick name was very common.

Amongst the most common patronymic surnames found throughout England are:

• Adam: Adams, Adamson; Adkins, Atkins, Adkinson, Atkinson, Acheson, Aitchinson; Adcock
• Bartholemew (Bart): Bartlet, Bateman
• Benedict: Bennett
• David: Davids, Davidson, Davis or Davies, Dawkins, Dawson,
• Edward: Edwards, Edwardson
• Ealhmund: Almond
• Elias: Ellis, Elliott
• Gilbert: Gibb, Gibson, Gibbons
• Godwin: Godwinson
• Hugh: Hughes, Hudd, Hudson, Huggins, Hutchins, Hutchinson, Hewett
• Jacob: Jacobs, Jacobson
• John/Jack: Jones, Johnson, Jackson, Jenson, Jenkins
• James: James, Jameson
• Luke: Lucas, Lucker
• Martin: Martin
• Matthew: Matthews, Matthewson
• Michael or Michel: Michael, Mitchell, Michel
• Morris or Maurice: Morrison - but also see Moore below
• Nicholas: Nichols, Nicholson; Nixon
• Peter or Pierre: Peters, Peterson; Piers, Pearson; Perkins, Parkinson
• Phillip: Phillips, Phillipson
• Richard: Richards, Richardson, Pritchard; Dixon, Dickens or Dickins, Dickinson or Dickenson; Hitch, Hitchins, Hitchcock; Hickson, Higson, Higgs, Higgins
• Robert: Roberts, Robertson, Probert
• Robin: Robins, Robinson; Dobbs, Dobson
• Samuel: Samms, Samuels, Samuelson
• Simon: Simm, Simms, Simpson; Simpkins, Simcox
• Stephen or Steven: Stephens, Stevens, Stephenson, Stevenson
• Thomas: Thomas, Thompson
• Henry or Harold: Harris, Harrison, Parry
• William: Williams, Williamson, Wills, Wilson, Willis, Wilkie, Wilkins, Wilkinson, Wilcox, Willet; Fitzwilliam
• Walter: Walters, Watt, Watts, Watson, Watkins, Wakinson

It is interesting to note how many of these personal names are Biblical rather than pre-Anglo-Saxon or Anglo-Saxon/Viking which are more often reflected in place names.

Using place names, or locational references to places of residence, as surnames is very common. Most places were given their names in Anglo-Saxon times, and they have rarely changed since. Place names of Anglo-Saxon often end with -as, -ingas, -ings, -ton, -ington, -ham, -ingham, -ing, -stead, -wick or -worth, and Viking places usually end with -by or -thorp.

Some of these place names are attached to the personal name of a particular Anglo-Saxon or Viking, such as Wocca, which gave rise to Woking and Wokingham and are found in only one part of England - the neighbouring counties of Surrey and Berkshire. If an ancestor moved from one of these places to another, they might acquire this place name as a surname and it might therfor be specific to the region.

Other place names are preceded by a local, natural or topographical feature in the landscape and the same place names might therefore appear in more than one part of the country. Clifton (a meeting place by a hill or cliff) is a place name in some 17 counties in England. These natural features might also be place names in themselves. If someone moved from one place to another they might acquire their most recent place of residence as a surname. The words for the features might however be used within the same place to distinguish one person from another by refering to the part of the place where they live, for example, Townsend or Townesend simply refers to one person who lived at the end of the town as opposed to someone with the same personal name who lived elsewhere in the town. Some of the features that have given rise to common place names and surnames, sometimes singly and sometimes in combination, include:

• Ash, Elm, Oak or Ac, and many other trees
• Beck
• Bottom or Botham (bottom of a valley)
• Bourne or Burn (a spring or stream)
• Brad (broad or wooden)
• Brooks or Brookes
• Ford
• Heath
• Hill (or Pen- from pre-English language)
• Holt
• Hurst
• Leigh or Lee
• Pickles (a small field)
• Shaw (copse or small wood)
• Stone
• Wade (a river crossing)
• Well
• Woods

The building where someone lived might also give rise to surnames:

• Booth (a small barn, from the Viking "bothy")
• Hall
• Lofthouse, which gave rise to Loftus

And roads or tracks too:

• Lane
• Streater, or Streeter, someone who lived on or near a paved road, also gave rise to: Streather and Stredder

If an individual had moved much further away from their original home town, they may have acquired a place name surname that reflects a much wider area, such as a city or county name: London or Wiltshire, for example, or even Scott, to reflect long lost origins in Scotland. The surname Walsh or Welsh may reflect origins in today's Wales, but it is the word used by the Anglo-Saxons (meaning stranger or foreigner) to refer to the indigenous population of southern Britain.

There can also be a "chicken and egg" problem with some place name surnames. Did someone get that surname because they came from the particular place with that name (more likely), or did an ancestor with that surname (possibly with a place name surname originally) settle there and give the place its name (less likely)?

Family History Journey will soon provide an article in the About England section on place name origins.

Occupations became the surnames of very many people, and as many occupations were passed from father to son, it is not unusual for generations of the same family to be similarly occupied. Most of the words are Old English ie Anglo-Saxon in origin, but a few will be Middle English, ie anglicized French words: .

• Ackerman - a plough man
• Baker and Whitbread
• Barker and Tanner
• Berry
• Bowyer or Bowson - maker of bows for firing arrows; the latter is also how the occupation of boatswain is pronounced.
• Brewer
• Burgess
• Butler - from the French Boutelier, keeper of a households' wine.
• Button - from the French word for button-maker
• Carpenter
• Carter
• Chambers or Chamberlain
• Chandler
• Chapman
• Cheeseman
• Clark or Clarke - a scribe or secretary
• Collier
• Cook or Cooke
• Cooper
• Coward, Shepherd, Hird, Hurd
• Currier
• Bond, Bondman
• Dyer or Lister
• Farmer - could be someone who farms land, but more usually a tax collector from the French word fermier
• Farrier or Ferrier
• Fisher
• Fletcher - arrow maker
• Forester or Foster
• Fowler - bird hunter
• Franklin, Yeoman
• Freeman, Fry
• Frobisher - polisher of swords
• Fuller
• Gardener, Gardiner, Gardner
• Granger - farmer of a monastery's grange land
• Harker
• Hayward or Heyward - keeper or watch man of hay
• Hooper
• Inman - innkeeper
• Knatchbull - the person who hit bulls on the head preparatory to slaughter
• Marshall
• Mason
• Mercer
• Miller
• Napier
• Potter
• Pitman or Pittman - miner
• Roper
• Sawyer
• Shepherd
• Slater
• Smith: blacksmith, goldsmith, shoesmith (horseshoes!)
• Spencer - from the French: dispencier or dispenser of household food and provisions
• Spinner
• Stot, Stoddard - an ox or keeper of oxen (stot-ward)
• Stringer or Stringfellow
• Tailor or Taylor (nowadays it is common for the occupation and surname to be distinguished by their spelling)
• Thatcher
• Tinker
• Tyler
• Walker - a fuller of wool, not someone who walks!
• Waterman
• Weaver, Webb
• Wright: Arkwright, Cartwright, Wainwright, Wheelwright
• Yates or Yateman - gates or gatekeeper

Women in some occupations could also give rise to surnames, such as:

• Baxter - a female baker
• Brewster - a female brewer of ale
• Webster - a female weaver

Someone with surnames such as Abbotts, Prior, or Parsons usually refers to someone who was a servant to an abbot, prior or parson, rather than the holder of the office. They may also be the parts they played in mummers plays. Other parts from mummers plays which have given rise to surnames include:

• Bishop
• King
• Knight
• Prince

And Harper is a surname given to someone who played the harp.

Some surnames were originally nick names, that is, names that described someone's physical appearance, their character or their temperment. These include:

• Brown or Brawn, Moore
• Little, Small, Cox
• Longman (tall man), Legge, Shanks, Longshanks
• Strong, Armstrong
• Young, Younger
• Shanks, Legge, Longshanks, Cruikshank (crooked legs)
• Pollard (a bald man)
• Crippen (curly haired)

Bear in mind, some of them may be tongue-in-cheek, if nick names today are any guide: it is not unusual to find a short person being given the nick name "Lofty"!

The surname Fox or Todd (meaning fox) might refer to someone's ruddy appearance, but may also have been given because someone had one the characterics associated with the animal, such as being quick or sly. Other surnames suggesting speed include:

• Swift
• Golightly

And surnames associated with someone's character or temperment include:

• Wise
• Smart
• Trueman
• Wild or Wilde
• Bragg (bold or daring)
• Moody (bold)
• Sharp or Sharpe
• Tait (cheerful)
• Unwin (unfriendly person)
• Darwin (dear friend), Dear or Deare
• Barrett (a cunning dealer)

Very many of the surname origins and meanings described above may still in fact be corruptions or meanings of words that have been lost in the mists of time. There are also many which are much harder to determine conclusively:

• Barnes: may refer to where a barn (an Anglo-Saxon word) stood, but may also be occupational and refer to someone who served a "Berne", a young warrior.
• Croft: may refer to the building where someone lived, but is also a descriptive nick name for someone who was cunning or sly.
• Green: for someone who lived near the village green, but also a descriptive or nick name for someone who played the Green Man or Jack-in-the Green in mummers plays
• Hawker or Hawkins: could be occupational, but also descriptive of someone who resembled a hawk.
• Lewis: a Germanic personal name meaning renounced, famous battle, which could have come to us via the French Louis, or the place Lewes, or even the Welsh patronymic from the personal name Lew. In the USA, but possibly in England too, it could be an anglicized version of the Jewish Levy or Levi.
• Moore: could be a natural feature, moor, or a descripitve nick name for someone who played a Moore (north African) in mummers plays or someone who was of swarthy appearance. This name also gave rise to the personal names Morris or Maurice, which in turn gave rise to the surname Morrison
• Myers: may be a patronymic surname arising from an occupational personal name, that is, son of mayor, the holder of the office of mayor, steward or bailiff, or even the occupation of physician; it may however refer to the Old Norse word "myrr" meaning marsh.
• Reed and its variable spellings could be a natural feature in a place: a ried was a woodland or the place name Read; a reed was used in framework knitting and a reedmaker was a skilled occupation; it could also be a descriptive nick name for someone with a ruddy appearance,
• Turner: occupational for turner of wood, bone or someone in charge of a tournament, a nickname for a fast runner in hunting,
• Ward: could be an occupational surname (watch man or guard) as in Hayward, Woodward, hogward (Hoggart) or stot(d)ward (Stoddard), or reflect a natural feature, from werd, ie marsh. It was also the word for someone (a child or an unmarried woman) under the guardianship of another.
• White: may be a place name, but also may be a descriptive surname for someone who was of pale appearance
• Wynne: is a word that means friend, but it may also be a pre-English word, more common now in Wales, to refer to someone who was fair of appearance and used to describe the invading Anglo-Saxons.

The above narrative is provided purely for background information and an aid to contextualizing an English family heritage for clients and customers. Much more information is often provided to these customers through research into their family history tree or through their ancestral home visit.

Whilst comments, opinions, additions and corrections from interested parties are welcomed, individual answers to general or specific comments and questions cannot necessarily be provided.