Eggleston

Recorded as Eggleston and Egglestone, this interesting surname is of English origin. It is locational from Egglestone in County Durham derived from the Old English pre 7th century personal name "Ecgwulf", from "agil", meaning edge or point (of a weapon), "wolf", a wolf, and "-tun", a settlement. It was first recorded as Egleston in the Pipe Rolls of 1196, although a now demolished abbey nearby but just over the Yorkshire border appears as Eighistun in the famous Domesday Book of 1086. Locational surnames were developed when former inhabitants of a place moved to another area, usually to seek work, and were best identified by the name of their birth place. Amongst the sample recordings are the marriage of Alexander Eggleston and Isabell Wilkinson on October 8th 1629 at Bishopwearmouth, and the christening of James Egglestone, on January 29th 1727 at Brancepeth. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Roger de Eglestone. This was dated 1196, in the Pipe Rolls of County Durham, during the reign of King Richard 1st, known as "The Lionheart", 1189 - 1199. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.