Readwin

Recorded as Redwing, Readwin, Redwin, and Redwing, this is a very interesting surname. It appears to be English but does not seem to be recorded in any of the known dictionaries of English surnames, nor is it apparently recorded in the surviving church registers of the diocese of Greater London until the end of the 18th century. This is several centuries too late for a name origination, and suggests that either mysteriously it did not find its way to London until 1795, which is possible but in our experience very unlikely, or more likely it is a developed form of some other name, or perhaps it is not English at all, but a transposition of some foreign name. That is possible, and if so a likely candidate would be the French surname Redouin also spelt Radouin. Unfortunately we have not been able to directly link any connection with absolute certainty. This may be because French people coming to England in the 18th century often heavily disguised their name, the French, even their refugeees, often being very low on the hospitality scale of welcome. A strong possible locational candidate is the town of Reading. Considering what a simple name this is, the known variations are in excess of forty and include such forms as Redin, Redding, Readding, and Rodon, so this is a very probable addition. The earliest recording that we have in the registers of London is that of Richard Readwin at St Sepulchre church, on May 11th 1795.