Stubbington

This unusual surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational name from Stubbington in Hampshire, deriving from the Olde English personal name "Stubba", plus "tun" settlement, hence "Stubba's tun". The placename is recorded as "Stubitone" in the Domesday Book of 1086, and as "Stubbinton" in the Book of Fees of 1242. During the Middle Ages when it was increasingly common for people to migrate from their birthplace to seek work further afield the custom developed that they would adopt the placename as a means of identification. Church Records list the christening of David, son of Richard Stubbington, on March 31st 1622 in Bishops Waltham, Hampshire, and the marriage of James Stubbington to Elizabeth Hayes, on September 21st 1628 at All Saints, Wandsworth, London. Elizabeth, daughter of James Stubbington, was christened on June 21st 1629, also in Wandsworth. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Thomas Stubington, which was dated November 30th 1608, in Hambledon, Hampshire, during the reign of King James 1 of England and V1 of Scotland, 1603 - 1625. 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.