Jotham

This most interesting and unusual surname is of early medieval English origin, and is a variant form of the patronymic Judson or Jutson. The male given names "Jud(d)" or "Jut(t)" are themselves pet forms of the very popular medieval name Jordan, from "Jurd", frequently pronounced "Jud". At the time of the Crusaders it was common practice for crusaders and pilgrims to bring back flasks of water from the river, and to use it for the baptism of their own children; thus "Jordan" became a popular given name. The river name derives from the hebrew "Yarden", from "Yarad", to go down, descend, that is, to the Dead Sea. One, Hugo Judde appears in the 1204 Pipe Rolls of herefordshire, and an Alan Jutte, witness, was noted in the Assize Court Rolls of Cambridgeshire, dated 1260. in 1324 John Judson was recorded in the Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield, Yorkshire. John Jutsam and a Prudence Jutsham were entered in a "Calander of Wills and Administration in Devon and Cornwall", in 1561 and 1611 respectively. On December 5th 1723 Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Jotham, was christened at st. James's, Clerkenwell, London, and on November 10th 1850 John Jotcham married a Sarah Elizabeth Smith at Saint Martin's, Birmingham, Warwickshire. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Jutham, which was dated January 14th 1607, marriage to Elizabeth Mymmitt, at Pinchbeck, Lincolnshire, during the reign of King James 1st of England and V1 of Scotland, 1603 - 1625. 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.