Shervington

Recorded in the spellings of Shervington, Shervinton and Shirvington, this is an English locational surname. There does not appear to be any such place as Shervington or similar spelling, unless it be the village of Sherrington in the county of Wiltshire. This is possible, almost anything is possible with surname spellings. This is particularly so for those of locational origins, and where the nameholders have apparently moved far away from their original homesteads. Locational surnames are by their nature 'from' names, which is to say that they were given to people in most instances, after they left their original homes and moved elsewhere. Spelling over the centuries being at best erratic and local accents very thick, lead to the development of 'sounds like' spellings. In addition several thousand surnames of the British Isles are known to originate from now 'lost' villages, of which the only reminder in the 20th century is the surviving surname. The original place name and the later surname probably derive from the pre 7th century Olde English tribal name 'Scira', plus -ing meaning 'people of' and 'tun', a settlement. The early recordings include: Richard Skyrington, whose daughter Amye was christened at St Margarets, Westminster, on Septmber 1st 1568, and Elizabeth Shervington, recorded at St Katherines by the Tower (of London), on January 25th 1789.