Merner

This interesting surname is a dialectal variant of "Marner", itself from either the Anglo-French "Mariner" and old French "Marinier", "Marnier", "Merinier", an occupational name for a sailor or a seaman, or it may also derive from a French personal name, from the Latin "Marinus", a Roman family name derived from "Marius". The surname itself, first appears in records in the late 12th Century (see below). Ace Meriner was recorded circa 1211 - 1123 in the Cartulary of St. Mary, Clerkenwell, London while the Close Rolls of Berkshire mention Ivo le Mariner in 1228. Peter le Marner was recorded in 1327 in the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex. Susan Marner married Thomas Fygg at St. Bride, Fleet Street, London on February 18th 1609, while Anne, daughter of Peter and Mary was christened at St. Mary Whitechapel on December 23rd 1621. Thomas Merner was christened in 1626 at St. Botolph without Aldgate, London and at Manchester Cathedral, Maria Merner married Samuel Kay on April 17th 1841. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Hugo le Marinier, which was dated 1197, The Pipe Rolls of Oxfordshire, during the reign of King Richard 1, "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.