Tavener

This very interesting surname, is one of the many variant spellings of 'Taverner', and derives from the Anglo-Norman French "taverner", itself from the Old French "tavernier", and describing a tavern-keeper. As such it was occupational name or possibly locational for one who lived near a tavern. The surname is one of the earliest on record appearing in the latter part of the 12th Century (see below). The keeper of a tavern was a highly respected profession, and one of the earliest coats of arms was granted to the family. This has the blazon of a gold field,charged with a cross voided red. Early recordings of the surname include William le Tauernier of Yorkshire in the 1177 pipe rolls, Richard le Taverner, in the 1173 Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire, and John le Tevernour, in the 1327 registers known as the Calendar of Documents, now held in the Tower of London. Richard Taverner (1505 - 1575), was a religious reformer, who published his English version of the Bible in 1539, and was promptly locked up in the Tower of London. Later he was not only freed by Henry V111 but was granted various estates. Other recordings include Richard Tavernor and Elizabeth Barbor who were married at St. Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe, London, on February 25th 1592 and much later George Tavinor, who married Elizabeth Smith at St James Church, Paddington, on April 24th 1870. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William le Tauerner, which was dated 1175, in the "Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire", during the reign of King Henry 11, known as "The Builder of Churches", 1154 - 1189. 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.