Boughton

This interesting name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational surname deriving from any of the places called Boughton in various counties in England. Those in Cheshire and Kent, recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Bocstone" and "Boltone", or "Boltune" respectively, mean "the enclosure where beeches grew", derived from the Olde English pre 7th Century "boc", beech (tree), and "tun", settlement, enclosure; hence, "enclosure where beech trees grew". The places in Huntingdonshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire, recorded variously in the Domesday Book as "Buchetone, Buchetuna" and "Boctone", mean "Bucca's settlement", derived from the Olde English byname "Bucca", from "bucc", a he-goat, with "tun", as before. Locational surnames, such as this, were usually acquired by a local landowner, or by the lord of the manor, and especially by those former inhabitants of a place who had moved to another area, usually in search of work, and were thereafter best identified by the name of their birthplace. Recordings from Lincolnshire Church Registers include the marriage of Jhone Boughton and Jane Waid at Brocklesby, on November 27th 1565. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Thomas Boughton, which was dated November 22nd 1539, christened at St. Mary Woolnoth, London, during the reign of King Henry V111, known as "Good King Hal", 1509 - 1547. 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.