Edgerton

Recorded as Edgerton, Egerton, Eggerton, and possibly others, this is an English surname It is locational from hamlets called Edgerton, Egerton or Eggerton, in the counties of Cheshire, Kent, and West Yorkshire. The Kent village appears in the famous Domesday Book of 1086 as Eardingtun, meaning "Ecgheard's settlement", the prefix being a pre 7th century personal name meaning 'Hard edge', and the suffix "-tun", a farm or settlement. It is probable that the other places have the same meaning, although Edgerton, now part of the town of Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, is not recorded before the 15th century, and may literally mean 'on the edge of the town'. Locational surnames, such as these, were usually acquired by the lord of the manor, and his or sometimes her, descendants or were given to former inhabitants of a place who had moved to another area, and were thereafter best identified by the name of their birthplace. Early examples of the name recordings include Jane Edgerton who married Mark Whitaker at St Mary Aldermary, in the city of London, on February 6th 1602, whilst William Egerton, who left London on board the ship "Amitie" in October 1635, bound for St. Christopher's in the Barbadoes, was an early colonist to the New World. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of David Eggerton. This was dated 1282, in the Assize Court Rolls of Cheshire, during the reign of King Edward 1st, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as the Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.