Revington

This is an English locational transposed surname which derives from a village such as Ravensden in Bedford or from some now "lost" medieval site. Both are equally possible, the spelling standard in the 16th century being at best dire, whilst local dialects were so strong as to cause the development of "sounds like" surnames. Assuming that the form as Revington is correct, the translation would be the home (tun) of the fox (refr) people (ing), but is more likely to have been "the ravens valley". There are some five thousand lost village sites in Britain, and almost all gave rise to surnames. The reason was that following the iniquitous Enclosure Acts of the 15th - 17th century, tenants lost most of their common grazing lands, and were forced to leave the area to seek employment in the towns or cities. These unfortunate people took (or were given) as their surnames, that of their former village name, and spelling being problematical, new forms were easily created. In the case of Revington, other forms were Revinton and Raventon. Early recordings include Elizabeth Revington, the daughter of Robert Revington, christened at St Giles Cripplegate, London on December 16th 1576. This church seems to have been the epicentre for the early Revington's in London. Another recording is that of Edmund Reveington, son of one Henry Reveington, christened at St Andrews, Holborn, on February 19th, 1580, whilst on December 18th 1692, Robert Revinton, the son of John and Mary, was christened at the famous church of St Dunstans in the East, Stepney. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert Revington, which was dated June 7th 1573, a christening witness to his son Robert, at St Giles 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.