Marriage

This intriguing and picturesque name is of medieval English origin and is a locational name, either from Marrick in Yorkshire, which was first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as 'Marige' and in the Feet of Fines of 1240 as 'marrig', or from a so called 'lost' place in Essex or Suffolk, of which it is estimated there are between seven and ten thousand such places that have disappeared from British maps. The derivation is from the Old English pre 7th Century '(ge)maere', meaning boundary and 'hrycg', a ridge. Marriage Farm in Kent is named with these elements, where the surname appears as Marrege, Marridge and Marriage in church registeres of that county. Agnes Marriage and Robert Willobie were married on July 19th 1601 in Tottenham, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Marlach (witness), which was dated 1377, The Assize Court Rolls of Essex, during the reign of King Edward 111, '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.