Layson

Recorded in several spellings as shown below, this unusual surname has at least two possible origins. Firstly it may be locational and if so it probably originates from a place originally called Leofelshamm, or in translation the house or home of Leofa, and now Leasam in the county of Sussex. Secondly it is also possible that the modern spelling is a developed form of the ancient personal name "Lece" meaning pasture of which the female form it believed to be Leticia, from which we have the patronymics and metronymics Layson, Leyson, Leason, or Leeson. An early example of the surname recordings is that of Roger Leceson in the Pipe Rolls of Cumbria in 1332, whilst Lewis Leyson is recorded in the students list of Oxford University as early 1453. Later examples of the recordings taken from the church registers of the city of London include Ann Leyshon, which was dated June 6th 1830, when she married Samuel Breatt at St. Martins in the Field, Westminster. This was during the reign of King William 1Vth, known as "The Sailor King", 1830 - 1837. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as the Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.