Mounfield

This name is of English locational origin from a place in Sussex called Mountfield. Recorded as Montifelle in the Domesday Book of 1086 and as Mundifeld in the Patent Rolls of that county, dated 1432, the first element is the Olde English pre 7th Century personal name Munda (from 'Mund' meaning protection), plus the Olde English 'feld' translating variously as a plain , open country of land free from wood. The surname with variant spellings Mounfield, Mountfeilde, Moundf(i)eld, and Mounfeld is particularly well recorded in church registers of London and Sussex from the late 16th Century, (see below). On July 29th 1584 Awdry Mounffeild, and infant, was christened in St. Dunstan's in the east, London, and on March 7th 1595, John, son of Thomas Mounfield, was christened in Thakeham, Sussex. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Moundfeld, which was dated May 6th 1570, christened in St. Margaret's, Westminster, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Good Queen Bess, 1558 - 1603. 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.