Witheridge

Recorded in several spellings all quite rare and including Wetheridge, Wetherick, Wetherwick, Witheredge, Witheridge and Witherick, this is an English surname. it is locational and originates from either a place called Witheridge in the county of Devonshire or Whitrigg in Cumberland. Witheridge is first recorded as Wirige in the famous Domesday Book of 1086, and according to the Oxford Dictionary of English Place names it means "willow ridge. Whitrigg first recored in 1246, means either "wether ridge"; an area where sheep were overwintered for sale the following year or white ridge, from the chalky soil. Residential surnames were among the earliest created, since both natural and man-made features in the landscape provided easily recognisable distinguishing names in the small communities of the Middle Ages. Early church recordings include the marriage of Thomas de Whitrig of Cumberland in 1293, Peter Wetherecke who married Bridgett Pitcher at Norwich, on October 4th 1612, and the christening of Petter Wetherick, on June 22nd 1651 at St. Mary at Corslany, also Norwich. The first spelling of the family name may be that of Robert de Whyterigge of Cumberland in 1273, during the reign of King Edward 1st (1272 - 1307) and known as "The hammer of the Scots". Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.