Buxton

This very interesting name is of English origin and is a locational name from two places so called, one in Derbyshire and the other in Norfolk, which, however, do not share the same derivation. The former place derived from the Old English pre 7th Century "bugan", the Middle English "b(o)ugen", to bow, with the suffix "stanes", stones, literally bowing stones, although it probably gets its name from logan stones in the vicinity. These stones are so poised that they rocked at a touch. This placename is recorded in circa 1100 as "Buchestanes", an in 1287 as "Bucstones". The other place in Norfolk is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Buchestuna, and Buxstone in the valuations of Norwich of 1254, and gets its name from the personal name "Bucc" and "tun", a settlement. Recordings of the surname from the Derbyshire church registers include; Elizabeth Buxton, who married Robert Cooke on February 1st 1567, at Dronfield; on October 4th 1574, at Church Broughton. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Henry de Bucstanes, which was dated 1230, in the Pipe Rolls, Derbyshire, during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. 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.