Hamlington

This is clearly an English locational surname, and one which is recorded in several forms including Hamblington, Hamlinton, and Hamlington. However the only place in the British Isles which has a similar spelling is the village of Hamlinstown in County Meath, in Ireland, and there is no evidence at all, that that place has provided any surnames. This suggests that we are dealing with a 'lost' medieval village, which was situated somewhere in England. The Dictionary of English Place Names does not list this spelling, but similar names such as Hambledon and Hamilton indicate a possible meaning of 'the place of the people (or tribe) on a hill', from the pre 7th century 'hamel-ing-tune'. 'Lost' medieval villages are a feature of the British Isles, and it is estimated that at least three thousand surnames do originate from places, whose only public memory in the late 20th century, is the surname itself, often in many spellings. Furthermore locational surnames are 'from' names. That is to say names given to people after they left their original homes to move somewhere else. This act in itself lead to greater dispertion of the name, and its spelling. The earliest example of this surname is probably that of William Hamblington at St Botolphs without Aldgate in the city of London, on March 1st 1656, and Charles Hamlington, who was a witness at St Dunstans in the East, Stepney, on September 26th 1701.