Sherington

This interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational name from a place in Buckinghamshire called Sherington. The placename is recorded as "Serintone" in the Domesday Book of 1086 and as "Schirincton" in the 1172 Pipe Rolls of the county; the derivation is from the Olde English pre 7th Century "Scira", a byname meaning "bright", "fair", with "tun", enclosure, settlement; hence "Scira's settlement". 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, thus resulting in a wide dispersal of the name. The surname can also be found as Sherington and Shrimpton. Recordings of the surname from London Church Registers include: the marriage of William Sherrington and Elizabeth Mayor on December 3rd 1561, at St. Antholin, Budge Row; the christening of Ellen, daughter of Bryan Sherrington, on July 28th 1563 at St. Margaret's, Westminster; and the christening of Johanna Sherrington on September 4th 1569 at All Hallows the Less. A Coat of Arms granted to the family is a red shield, between two flaunches chequy silver and blue, two gold crosses formee in pale, each charged with a black cross formee, the Crest being a gold scorpion in pale, tail in chief between two elephants' teeth, the upper part chequy silver and blue, the bottom red, each charged with a cross, as in the arms. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Willam Sheryngton, which was dated July 10th 1542, marriage to Grace Pagett at St. Dionis Backchurch, London, 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.