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The English began to take on surnames in the early middle ages (11th
century), starting with the Norman elite, who took theirs from their
place of origin. By 1400 most English had surnames, either
from the physical characteristics of an ancestor (short, red
(hair) or their ancestor's occupation (Smith, Archer) family
relationships (Johnson,) Geographical features (e.g. Hill,
Wood, ) Occupations (e.g., Smith, Carpenter) Place
names (e.g., Washington, Yarnton,).
Many Scottish and Welsh people did not adopt surnames until the 17th
century, or even later. Henry VIII (1509 - 1547) ordered that
marital births be recorded under the surname of the father. So
it would seem Yarnton’s took there name originally from the name of
the village, which they would have to use once they moved away from
the village for identification and tax purposes. It became the
practice to dependents to adopt the same surname.
Birth’s marriages and deaths were not required to be registered by
law until 1st July 1837 in England and Wales, Scotland
from 1st January 1855, Ireland 1st January
1864. Before that they were registered on a voluntary basis
normally at the parish church, for example in the case of a birth it
could be years after the birth on the occasion of say the
christening.
Different spellings of a surname happened because many people were
not all that literate and a clerk somewhere wrote the name down the
way it sounded to them.
The Royal Navy had a minesweeper Called HMS
Yarnton.
In late 1971 HMS Yarnton was converted to
coastal patrol craft with a second 40mm gun mount fitted abaft the
funnel. It was sent to Hong Kong where it served until being
replaced by Peacock class patrol vessels.
The main migration area’s of the Yarnton’s are
Wales, Gloucstershire, London, Manchester, Ipswich, Canada,
Australia, New Zealand, USA. |
