Pinder - Meno

This interesting name is job descriptive for an Official of the Manor or Village responsible for impounding stray cattle or other domestic animals and hold them within a "Pound". The surname is also found as "Pounder" or the metonymic "Pound", the origination being from the Olde English "Pyndan" of the pre 7th Century. The modern spellings include Pinder, Pindar, an early recording being "Pyndare of Beestys, Pynnar" in the medieval "Promptorium Parrulorum" c.1400. The name development includes the following Alice Pinder, christened at St. Lawrence Pountney 30th October 1558 and Sir Paul Pindar (1569 - 1650) Ambassador to Turkey, 1611. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Le Pyndere (witness), which was dated 1219, in the "Yorkshire Assize Court", during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. 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.