Mullender

Recorded as Mallinder, Mallender, the rare Mullender, Mulliner, Milner, Molyneaux, Mallinar and others, this is an English surname, but of Norman-French origins. Introduced at or shortly after the famous Conquest of 1066, it is or rather was occupational, and derives from the word 'moliniere'. As such it described a corn miller. There have in fact been two entires of the surname into the British Isles. The first was as above and the second after the repeal of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, when the persecutionof the protestants in France reached new levels of cruelty. There after many by then called the Huguenots sand some holding this surname, fled to Britain, Holland, and Switzerland. However the early English recordings, of which there are numerous examples, date back to the medieval period, many years before the Huguenot entries. These early recordings, showing the "link" to the "modern" spellings include: Sancheus Moliner in the Pipe Rolls of Lincoln in 1175; William Molinder in the Subsidy Rolls of Somerset in 1327; and William Mullinder of Sheffield, in the Hearth Tax Records of 1674. On December 30th 1782, Sarah Mallender married Charles Powell at St. James's Church, Westminster. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard de Mulinas (also spelt Molinaus), which was dated 1212, in the Book of Land Fees for Lancashire, during the reign of King John, (1199 - 1216). 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.