Chiverstone

This interesting surname of English origin with variant spellings Cheverton, Chiverton, Chiverstone, Chyuerton, etc., is a locational name from a place called Chivelstone in Devon, deriving from the Old English pre 7th Century personal name Ceofel plus "tun" "farm", "enclosure", hence "Ceofel's tun". The placename is recorded as Cheueletona in the Domesday Book of 1086. The surname dates back to the late 13th Century, (see below). The London church records include one William, son of Richard and Anne Chiverton, who was christened on August 3rd 1626, at St. Margaret Moses, Anna, daughter of Jeremiah and Annae Chiverton, was christened on June 3rd 1656, at St. Martin in the Fields, Westminster, and Jeremiah Chyuerton married Annam Walton on November 4th 1660, at St. Martin in the Fields, Westminster. One Ane Cheverton married John Charlton on November 3rd 1677, at St. James, Clerkenwell. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ralph de Cheverston, which was dated 1275, in the "Hundred Rolls of Devon", during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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.