Hammonds

This is a patronymic i.e. 'the son of Hammond' - a derivative of the Olde French personal name Hamond or the Olde German Hamo(n) with an excrescent 'd'. The root of both names is the German 'haim' meaning 'home'. Hamo became popular in England after the Norman Conquest of 1066 and is first recorded in 'Ancient Social and Economic Documents of Lincolnshire' c. 1140 - 'Hamo or Hamandus Elemosinarius'. The surname first appears in the early half of the 13th century (see below). One Richard Hamond is recorded in the 1327 Pipe Rolls of Sussex. On March 29th 1674, the marriage of Elizabeth Hammonds and George Painter is recorded in the Registers of St. Katherine by the Tower, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Walter Hamund, witness. which was dated 1242 The Fine Court Rolls of Herefordshire. during the reign of King Henry III 'The Frenchman' 1216-1272. 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.