A look at the history and meaning behind some of the Surnames
in our family.
Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal
taxation.
In England this was known as Poll Tax.
Throughout the
centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop"
often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.
Family Crests.
The process of creating coats of arms (also often called family crests) began in the eight and ninth centuries. The new art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own coat of arms.
Melton
The family name of Melton is believed to be descended
originally from the Norman race. They were more accurately of
Viking origin.
The surname Melton emerged as a notable family name in the
county of Norfolk and Yorkshire.
Other villages in the surrounding area were known as Great
Melton, Little Melton, Melton Mowbray and Melton Ross.
There are a recorded 26 parishes in the UK that either now or at
one time have had the name Melton in one form or another.
One John de Melton is recorded in Norfolk in 1273, Nicholas of
Melton in Yorkshire and Adam Meltone in Suffolk at around the
same time, later there was Ricardus Melton in Yorkshire in 1379.
It is believed, and we must add not proved, that the name is
descended from the Norman Knight, Roger longsword(sounds like a
made up name) however, It was he who held the village of Melton
Constable in Norfolk and some think therefore adopted the name.
We have found that the Name Melton has possibly been spelt in
numerous ways, such as, Milton, Melton,Molton,Mylton,Meltun, and
a lot of different other ways.
It is not known if the town got its name from a resident or if
the resident got his name from the town, however, it is known
that it was not uncommon to use the persons first name and then
the name of the village or town from where they came when
addressing them.
When looking at the very many ways in which the name was
spelled, it is worth bearing in mind that literacy was not a
common thing in those days, this could quite easily account for
the different spellings.
Another meaning that we have come across is one that accompanied
our research of the family crest, again when it came to the
crest we found two different ones, however both are very close.
This meaning is written as follows, The English surname of
Melton is of local origin, belonging to that category of named
based on places, dwellings or land that the bearer once lived.
The place name Melton derives from an old English term meaning
Middle Farm. so there we have it, two different explanations,
its up to you which one you believe to be fact.
Wilkin
The English surname Wilkin is derived from the name of the
father of the first bearer of this surname. This surname derives
from the Christian name William, ”son of William” Will and then
Kin, Kin has sevaral meanings, Small or Little and can also mean
Son of, this would probably ring true when the Son of Wilkin was
indeed small or little.
The name William is of Anglo-Norman origin, from the Old High
German “Wilihelm” , formed by “will”, meaning resolution, and
“helm”, meaning armed. This name was very popular during the
Middle Ages as can be proved by the existence of famous people
like William Rufus (the red), or King William II of England
(1056-1100) and his father, William the Conqueror, or William I
of England (1027-1087), who as Duke of Normandy invaded and
conquered the English in 1066.
Very early records of the surname Wilkins go as far back as the
twelfth century, with a Willechin de Laurecost in 1196. A Ralph
Wylekin was living in The County of Norfolk during the reigns of
Henry III and Edward I. A Wilechin in 1167 is mentioned in the
“History of Northumberland” by Reverend John Hodgson. In more
recent times we have an important bearer of Wilkins with the
name of Sir Henry John Arthur Wilkins, from Devon, President of
Cooperative Wholesale Society Limited. He was knighted in 1932.
Maurice Hugh Frederick Wilkins (1916- ) was a New Zealand-born
British biophysicist who shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology
and Medicine with Watson and Crick in 1962, for the discovery of
the structure of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid).
Huggins
This most interesting surname is a patronymic form of "Huggin",
which itself is a diminutive from the Old French personal name
"Hugh", which was introduced into England by the Normans after
the Conquest of 1066. Hugh is a contracted form of any of the
various Germanic compound names with the first element "hug",
heart, mind, spirit. This personal name was popular among the
Normans in England, due to the fame of St. Hugh of Lincoln (1140
- 1200), who established the first Carthusian monastery in
England. Thus the surname is composed of "Hug", the pet form of
Hugh; the diminutive suffix "-in"; and the patronymic ending
"-s", son of; hence "son of little Hugh". The surname is first
recorded in the early 14th Century (see below), while other
early examples include: Amisia Hugines, recorded in the Subsidy
Rolls of Worcestershire in 1327; and John Hugyn, mentioned in
the Feet of Fines of Staffordshire in 1337. Samuel Huggins (1811
- 1885), was President of the Liverpool Architectural Society,
and the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings was
founded largely due to his papers against "restorations" of
cathedrals. The first recorded spelling of the family name is
shown to be that of Robert Hugyn, which was dated 1327, in the
"Subsidy Rolls of Sussex", during the reign of King Edward 111,
known as "The Father of the Navy", 1327 - 1377. Surnames became
necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In
England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries,
surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often
leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.
Barrett
The surname of BARRETT was originally a baptismal name 'the son
of Berold'. This great surname appears as a personal name in the
Domesday Book of 1086 as BARET. The name was brought to England
in the wake of the Norman Conquest of 1066 and so the name is
predominantly French in origin.
Families of this name first settled in Ireland with the
Anglo-Norman invasion. It is said that those who settled in
County Cork were originally Barratt, while the Connacht settlers
were always Barrett; the name is now usually spelt Barrett
everywhere in Ireland.
Early records of the name mention Stephanus filius Beroldi, who
was recorded during the reign of Henry II ( 1154-1189 ). Agnes
Baret was documented in County Cambridge in 1200. Berard de
Wattlesfeld, County Somerset, 1273. Harvey Barrett of Yorkshire,
was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379. Edward Barret of
County Devon.
Rumbelow
This curious surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a
locational name meaning burial mound and is thought to have been
given to whoever tended or worked at such places.
It has also been suggested that Rumbellow originated as a
nickname for a sailor, as the word was part of early sailors'
"Heave-ho" songs: "Your mariners shall synge arow, Heyhow, and
rumbylow"; This also bears true on some very old songs with the
words "hal an tow" meaning heel and toe an old navy sailors term
for rigging the ship. It also has been interpreted as a sailors
song "a jolly rumble-o".
The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be
that of Richard de Thrimelowe, which was dated 1334, in
"Medieval Records of Warwickshire", during the reign of King
Edward 111, known as "The Father of the Navy".
Todd
The name Todd was usually pronounced as tahd. It draws down to
Middle English origin, which literally means "fox". This name
also possibly refers to a person who was a foxhunter and so
nicknamed after the fox. It remains a dialectal statement for a
fox in some parts of Britain. The variant form of this name is
Tod. The name also sounds very much similar to Tadd and Tedd. It
also refers to a Scottish nickname for a person who is usually
considered to be clever or wily.
