Lovegrove - Meno

Derived from the Olde English pre 7th Century "leof-gar" a personal compound name which translates as "Beloved-spear", this name is a "Saxon" survivor of the 1066 Norman Conquest when many early names were "politically" undesirable. However, the Normans were not above "borrowing" names particularly if they were warlike, and the original spelling did produce a proliferation into the modern idiom including Loveguard, Lovegrove, Ludgrove, Lugger and so on. The name development includes Richard Lovegar (1327, Sussex Rolls), John Lovegrove who married Agnes Sayer at St. Dunstans Church, Stepney in 1608, Henry Ladgrove who married Avis Yound (1720, London) and Mary Ludgrove (1693), married at St. Katherine by the Tower, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Edward Leuegar, which was dated 1199, in the "Pipe Rolls of Devon County", during the reign of King Richard 1, known as "The Lionheart", 1189 - 1199. 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.