Latchford

This name is of English locational origin from Latchford, in the parish of Grappenhall, Cheshire or from Latchford in Oxfordshire. The name derives from the Olde English pre 7th Century "loecc" meaning "a stream" and "ford", a ford. The surname from the latter source is first recorded in the last half of the 13th Century. In 1609 one, Nicholas Latchford appears in "the Wills Record at Chester". The spelling was transposed to Litchford in (1666), Lachford (1679) and Letchford (1788). In the modern idiom, the name has three spelling variations: Latchford being the most usual form, also Lashford and Letchford. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Philip de Lecheford. which was dated 1279 in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire. during the reign of King Edward 1, known as the Hammer of the Scots, 1272 - 1307. 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.