Grundon

This interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational name from any of a number of places. It may be from Grendon in Berkshire, Northamptonshire and Warwickshire, or from Grindon in Staffordshire, recorded respectively in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Grennedone, Grendone, Grendone" and "Grendone". All placenames have the same meaning and derivation which is the Olde English pre 7th Century "grene", green, and "dun", hill; hence, "green hill". It may also be from Grendon in Herefordshire, recorded as "Grendene" in the Domesday Book, which has as its second element the Olde English "denu", valley; hence, "green valley". Locational surnames were originally given to the lord of the manor, or as a means of identification to those who left their place of birth to seek work elsewhere. In the modern idiom the surname can be found as Grundon, Grendon and Grindon. Recordings of the surname from London Church Registers include: the marriage of William Grenden and Mary Latton on July 6th 1600, at St. Margaret's, Westminster; the marriage of Katherine Grundon and John Day on April 24th 1639, at the same place; and the christening of John, son of Thomas and Ellin Grendon, on October 29th 1653, at St. Michael Queenhithe. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert de Grendon, which was dated 1273, in the "Hundred Rolls of Shropshire", 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.