Crayton

This is an interesting name of Scottish and English origin and is locational from a place called Creighton near Utloxeter in Staffordshire and Crichton near Edinburgh in Scotland. The derivation of Creighton (in Staffordshire) is from the Olde Welsh pre 7th Century 'creic', a rock, and 'tun', a farm or settlement, thus a place built on a ridge, and it was first recorded in the Red Book of the Exchequer of 1166 as 'Crectone', and in the Assize Rolls of 1222 it appears as 'Creiton'. However the place name in Scotland is derived from the Gaelic 'crioch', a border or boundary and the Olde English pre 7th Century 'tun', thus a farm on a boundary. The earliest recorded spelling is 'Crechtune' circa 1145 and 'Creigchton' in 1367. In the modern idiom, the name is found as Creighton, Crichton, Crighton, Crichton, Craighton and Crayton. On March 7th 1702, John, son of Robert and Mary Crayton, was christened at St. Dunstan's, Stepney, and Ann, daughter of William and Hellen Crayton, was christened on July 29th 1705, in the same place. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Turstan de Crectune, witness of King David's Charter, which was dated circa 1128, Edinburgh, Scotland, during the reign of King David 1 of Scotland, 1124 - 1153. 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.