Kinchington

This interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational name from some minor or unrecorded place, perhaps a "lost" village. There are an estimated seven to ten thousand villages and hamlets that have now disappeared from Britain since the 12th Century; the prime cause of these "disappearances" was the enforced "clearing" and dispersal of the former inhabitants to make way for sheep pastures at the height of the wool trade in the 15th Century, and natural causes such as the Black Death of 1348, in which an eighth of the population perished. The first element of the placename is unknown, but is believed to be an Olde English pre 7th Century personal name, with the Olde English "ing", people of, and "tun", village, town, homestead; hence "the homestead of Kinch's people". Recordings of the surname from English Church Registers include: the marriage of Amy Kinchinton and Nicholas Bayle, on September 30th 1637, at Cranborne, Dorset; the christening of John, son of John Kinchinton, on March 1st 1703, at Fordingbridge, Hampshire; the christening of Dorothy, daughter of William Kinchington, at the same place; and the christening of Charles, son of Isaac and Sophia Kinchington, on July 27th 1845, at St. Mary's, Lewisham, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Philip Kinchington, which was dated July 26th 1579, marriage to Margery Nott, at Britford, Wiltshire, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, known as "Good Queen Bess", 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.1558 - 1603.