Pegden

Found in a variety of spellings as shown below, this name is of locational origins and derives from the village of Pigdon in Northumberland. The translation is the "denn" (pasture) on the hill (Pic), and the origin is Old English pre 7th Century. The village name is first recorded in the Northumberland Pipe Rolls of 1205 as "Pikedenn" and later in the Book of Fees (1242) as Pykeden. The first surname recordings seem to be in the spelling as Pegdon, although as early as 1623 a "Mr Pegden" is recorded as having died in the New Virigina Colony before February 16th of that year; he would therefore have been amongst the first of all the settlers to the New World. The surname variants also include Pidgon (1641), Pagden (1707), Pagdain (1805) and Pigden (1836). The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Pedgon, which was dated September 26th 1563, a witness at St. Giles Church, Cripplegate, London, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, known as "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.