Pierrepoint

Recorded in several modern forms including Pierpoint, Pierrepoint, Pierrepont and Peirpoint, this is an English surname but one of Norman - French origins. It was locational from any of the places called Pierrepont in the departements of Seine- Inferieure, Calvados, or La Manche in the former dukedom of Normandy. The name was introduced into England after the Conquest of 1066, and is first recorded in the famous Domesday Book of 1068 (see below). The name means "The stone bridge", derived from the Olde French word "pierre", meaning stone, with "pont", a bridge. The surname development has included Richard de Pierrepunt of Dorset in 1178, Roger Perpunt Nottinghamshire in 1240 and Simon de Perpoynt of Northumberland in 1316. Examples of later recordings include Anne Pierrepont was christened at St. Margaret's Westminster on the 9th March 1631, whilst the Pierrepoint family of Oldham, Lancashire, were the the 'official' executioners until the abandonment of capital punishment in 1963. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Reinaldus de Perapund. This was dated 1086, in the Domesday Book for the county of Norfolk. This was during the reign of King William 1st, known as "The Conqueror", 1066 - 1087. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.