Palfreyman

This interesting surname with variant spellings Palfreeman, Palfreman, Palframan, Palphreyman, and Parfrement, is an occupational name for a man responsible for the maintenance and provision of saddle-horses, deriving from the Middle English "palfrey", Old French "palefrei" meaning "saddle-horse". The surname dates back to the late 13th Century (see below). Further recordings include John Palfreman (1333), Middle English Occupational Terms of Somerset, and John Palframan (1379), the Poll Tax Records of Yorkshire. Church Records show one Richard Palfreman, who was christened on July 9th 1555, in St. Peter's Church, Cornhill, London, Ciceslye Palfreyman who married John Combe, on May 28th 1573, in St. Mildred Poultry with St. Mary's, Colechurch, London, and Johane Palfreyman who was christened on August 30th 1576, in St. Margaret's, Westminster. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John le Palfreyman, which was dated 1273, in the "Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire", during the reign of King Edward 1st, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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.