Maker

This uncommon and ancient name is of Old Welsh and Cornish origin, and may be either a locational or a topographical surname, in both cases from the same derivation, the Old Welsh "macyrou", Old Breton "macoer", and Cornish "magor", modern Welsh "magwyr", all ultimately from the Latin "maceria", wall, ruin. There are places named with this element in both Cornwall and South Wales; these are Maker and Magor in Camborne, Cornwall, and Magor near Newport in South East Gwent, formerly Monmouthshire. The places in Cornwall are thought to be so called with reference to Roman ruins; the discovery of a tessellated pavement at Magor in 1924 suggests there may have been a Roman villa there. Examples of the surname from various Church Registers include: the marriage of Markes Maker and Abgall Skewes on October 7th 1665, at Feock, Cornwall; the marriage of Anne Maker and Nicolas Horseman on September 10th 1667, at St. Katherine's, Creechurch, London; and the christening of James, son of James Maker, on May 16th 1687, at St.Cleer, Cornwall. The Coat of Arms associated with the name is a red shield, an anchor, proper, and on a silver chief three red roses; the Crest being a greyhound's head erased and collared. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Jane Maiger, which was dated March 6th 1553, christened at Clyst Hydon, Devonshire, during the reign of King Edward V1, known as "The Boy King", 1547 - 1553. 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.