Huntingford

This interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin and is a locational name from either of two places so called, in Dorset and in the parish of Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestshire. The former place is first recorded in the Forest Charters of 1279 as "Hunteneford", and the latter is found is the Saxon Charters of 940 as "Huntenaford" and in the Charter Rolls of 1228 as "Hunteneford". The derivation of both places is from the Old English pre 7th Century "hunta", huntsman with "ford", a ford (over a river) presumably used by huntsman in early times. Placenames were used inthe Middle Ages as a means of identification by former inhabitants, thus resulting in a wide dispersal of the name. One Robert Huntingford was christened on July 6th 1652 at Pubney, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Thomas Huntingford, which was dated March 24th 1651, St. Katherine-by-the-Tower, during the reign of Oliver Cromwell, "The Great Protector", 1649 - 1658. 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.