Weond

Perhaps as many as thirty percent of all "modern" surnames form variants of an original base name, and particularly so if the spelling is now meaningless in any known language. This definitely is the case with "Weond", a name not apparently recorded anywhere before the mid Victorian period. It is our opinion that the name is a development of the Old English "Wend" a habitational name for one who dwelt by a narrow passage or street, and particularly found in the North of England. The known spelling variants include Wende, Wonde, Woond, Wound, and further variants commencing with "v" such as Vent, Vend, and Vende, although in these latter cases there is some confusion with "vint" which may be a metonymic occupational name for a wine merchant. We are satisfied from our experience that the present spelling is as a result of dialectal misinterpretation from the Yorkshire "Wende". The first proven nameholder with definitive recordings would seem to be Eliza Weond, the widow of Jacob Weond, who died aged 47 yrs, on March 3rd 1882, at 12 Johns Court, Tower Hamlets, London. Other recordings include George Weond who married at St. James church, London, on April 14th 1901. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Wende, which was dated July 20th 1620, married Ann Cook at Cowick Yorkshire, during the reign of King James 1st 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.