Hamments

This interesting surname derives from the Olde French personal name "Hamond" or the Olde German given name "Hamo(n)". The root of both names is the Germanic "haim" meaning "home". Hamo became popular in England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. One, Hamo or Hamandus elemosinarius, is recorded in the "Ancient Social and Economic Documents of Lincolnshire" circa 1140. The surname first appears in the early half of the 13th Century (see below). One, Roger Haymund is noted in the "Hundred Rolls of Hampshire" (1275) and Richard Hamond is recorded in the "Pipe Rolls of Sussex", (1327). The final "s" is a shortened form of "son of". In the modern idiom, the surname has many variant spellings including Hammon(d), Hammonds, Hammand, Hammant, Hamment, Hammants, etc.. Recordings of the surname from the London Church Registers include; Joseph Hamments who married Ann Cater on May 29th 1692 at Allhallows London Wall and Frances Hamment who married Benjamin Dobell on May 16th 1695 at St. James, Dukes Place, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Walter Hamund, a (witness) which was dated 1242, in the "Fine Court Rolls of Herefordshire", during the reign of King Henry 111, "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. 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.