Swinford

This name is of English locational origin from any of the places named with the pre 7th Century Old English "swin", meaning "swine, pig or wild boar", plus "ford", a ford. These places include Swinford in Berkshire, recorded as "Swynford" in "The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle", dated 931; Swinford, (Leicestershire), recorded as "Svin(e)ford" in the Domesday Book of 1086, Kingswinford, (Staffordshire), appearing as "Svinesford" in the Domesday Book, and Old Swinford, (Worcestershire), written as "Swinford" circa 950 in "The anglo-Saxon Chronicle". The surname had emerged by the end of the 12th Century, (see below). One, William de Suyneford, witness, appears in "The Fine Court Rolls of Lincolnshire", dated 1250, and a William de Swyneford in the 1273 "Hundred Rolls of Suffolk". On June 6th 1614, Elizabeth Swinford and Daniell Williams were married in St. Dunstan's Stepney, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Geoffrey de Suinford, which was dated 1190, "The Pipe Rolls of Leicestershire", during the reign of King Richard 1, "Richard The Lionheart", 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.