Mogridge

This most interesting and unusual surname, found chiefly in the Devonshire region, is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational name from Mogridge in Devonshire. The placename itself is composed of the Olde English pre 7th Century personal name "Mogga", of uncertain etymology, and the second element is clearly the Olde English "hrycg", a ridge or spur, a common placename element, also found in such placenames as Foulridge, Henstridge, and Tandridge. During the Middle Ages, when migration for the purpose of job-seeking was becoming more common, people often took their former village name as a means of identification, resulting in a wide dispersal of the surname; and consequently a number of variant forms in some instances. Variant spellings in the modern idiom include Muggeridge, Mugridge, Moggridge, Mogridge and Mockridge. Johane Moggryge married William Estmonte on June 25th 1544, at Molland, Devonshire; while Owndry Moggridge was christened at Woodbury in 1566. John Mogridge, a convicted rebel, who took part in Monmouth's Rebellion of 1685, was transported from Taunton to the Barbadoes in 1685. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Phillip Moggryg, which was dated September 11th 1541, a christening witness at Molland in Devonshire, during the reign of King Henry V111, known as "Good King Hal", 1509 - 1547. 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.