Vincent

This fine name, with variant spellings Vincett, Vinsen, Vinson, and Vinsun , derives from the Latin "Vincentius", a personal name of victory from "vincere", to conquer. The popularity of the name in medieval Europe was partly due to the veneration in which the 3rd Century Spanish Martyr, St. Vincent, was held. In medieval England, Vincent occurs in documents from 1200 onwards, usually in the Latinized form "Vincencius" as in the 1206, Curia Regis Rolls of Norfolk. One Vincentius Filius (son of) Wuluiet, witness, was noted in the 1222, Assize Court Rolls of Warwickshire. The surname first appears in the early part of the 13th Century (see below). Other early recordings include Roger Vincent (Berkshire, 1273), and Agatha Vincent (Sussex, 1296). In 1626, one William Vincent, an early settler in the New World, was granted 100 acres of land near Charles city, Virginia. Another William Vincent (1739 - 1815), dean of Westminster, Superintened restoration works in Westminster Abbey from 1807. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Vincent, which was dated 1230, in the "Cartulary of Oseney Abbey", Oxfordshire, 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.