Chalfain

This is a name of very ancient locational origins, which does derive from the Villages of Chalfont St. Giles and Chalfont St. Peter in Berkshire. The first recording of the village name as "Ceadeles Funta" is in the Saxon Charters of 949 A.D., in the reign of Edred (946 - 955). In the 1086 Domesday Book, the spelling changes to "Celfunte" and in 1242 the villages are recorded as "Chaufonte Sancti Eagidii" and Chaufont Sancti Petri, Latinized spellings of Norman introduction. However, the origination is Olde English "Ceadels spring or well" with "Ceadel" being a personal name pre 8th Century. The surname development is much later and includes Elizabeth Chalfannt (1589, christened at St. Michaels, London) and George Chalfon who married Mary Alcott, at St. Mary the Virgins, Aldermanbury, on December 22nd 1628. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Thomas Chalfonte, which was dated 1570, married Margaret Cornewallis by Civil Licence in London, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, known as "Good Queen Bess", 1558 - 1603. 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.