Whotton

This name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational surname from any one fo the places called "Wootton" in the Counties of Bedfrodshire, Dorsetshire, Hampshire and Lincolnshire. There are very many other places of the same name and derivation but the surname in the form of "Whotton" or "Whooton" is confined to the counties mentioned. The placename is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as respectively, "Otone", "Widetone", "Odetune" and "Udetone" and means the settlement in or by a wood, derived from the Olde English pre 7th Century "wudu", wood and "tun", village, homestead or settlement. The modern surname is found in the forms Whotton, Whooton, Wootton and Wotton. Anne Whotton and Thomas Jones were married on the 11th March 1740 at Amport in Dorset. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Elizabeth Whotton, married Edward Butcher, which was dated 6th May 1694, Andover, Hampshire, during the reign of King William and Queen Mary "The Joint Monarchy", 1689 - 1702. 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.