Wearden

This is an interesting name of English origin and is a dialectal variant of a locational name Worden from a place so called in Lancashire. The derivation is from the Olde English pre 7th "Woer", weir and "denu", valley, thus, "a weir in a valley". In 1250 in the Cockersand Chartulary the placename appears as "Werden" and as "Werthen" in the Assize Rolls of 1246. During the Middle Ages when it was becoming increasingly popular for people to migrate from their birth place to seek employment elsewhere, they often adopted the place name as a means of identification thus resulting in a widespread dispersal of the name. One Dorethye Wearden married James Nicolson on April 28th 1604, at Woodplumplon, Lancashire. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Allice Wearden married Alex Mosse, which was dated 29th January 1576, Croston, Lancashire, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, 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.