Baudouin

This unusual surname, recorded in Church Registers of Jersey, the Channel Islands, from the mid 16th Century, is of medieval French origin, and is a patronymic form of Baudain, itself deriving from the Germanic male given name Baldo, a short form of any of the various compound names with the first element "bald", bold, for example Baldwin, "bold friend". This personal name was introduced into England by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066, and appears in its Latinized form "Baldewinus" in Feudal Documents of Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, dated circa 1085. One John Baudewin was recorded in Cambridgeshire in 1260. Baudains, and its variants Baudain, Baudins and Baud(o)uin, entered Britain as French Huguenot surnames, having been introduced by French Huguenot refugees fleeing religious persecution in their own country from the mid 16th Century onwards. On September 10th 1595, Jeanne Baudains and Helier le Fauvre were married at St. Martin's, Jersey, and on November 20th 1624, Johyn Baudains married Collette Romeril at St. John's, Jersey. The christening of Ester, daughter of Guillaume and Claire Bauduin, took place at the Threadneedle French Huguenot Church, London, on October 17th 1641. Several Coat of Arms have been granted to this illustrious family, the best known of which is an azure shield with a silver chevron between three gold roses, on a gold Crest three black martlets. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Baudains, which was dated 1563, marriage to Catherine Falle, on Jersey, the Channel Islands, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, known as "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.