Tidridge

Recorded as Tedridge, Tidridge, Titherridge and possibly others, this is an English surname. It is locational and of medieval origin and describes a person who lived 'atta ridge,' which is also the name of a now apparently "lost" medieval village in the Hampshire area. Locational surnames are usually 'from' names. That is to say names given to people after they left their original village to move somewhere else. Spelling over the centuries being at best erratic and local accents very thick, soon lead to the development of 'sounds like' surname spellings. In this case examples of the name development over the centuries and taken from the surviving registers of the county of Hampshire include William Titherige of Cheriton, on November 18th 1705, James Tidridge, a witness at New Alresford Independent Church on October 12th 1834, whilst on February 4th 1844, Jane Tedridge, the daughter of Henry and Ann was christened at Bishops Waltham. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Titheridge. This was dated June 13th 1642 when he married Eme Garret at Bighton, North Petersfield, during the reign of King Charles Ist of England, 1625 - 1649. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as the Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.