Witcombe

This name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational surname deriving from one of the places called 'Whitcombe', in Dorset, Wiltshire and the Isle of Wight. The first two of these places are recorded as 'Widecome' in the Domesday Book of 1086, and that on the Isle of Wight as 'Witecombe', showing the slightly different meaning and derivation. The Dorset and Wiltshire placenames mean 'the wide valley', derived from the Old English pre 7th Century 'wid', with, meaning 'wide', with 'cumb', a coomb, valley or deep hollow. The place on the Isle of Wight means 'the white valley', derived from Old English 'hwit', white, with 'cumb' as before. The modern surname can be found as Whitcomb(e) and Witcomb(e). One Robert Witcombe was christened at St. Anne's, Soho, in London, on September 14th 1694. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William de Whitecumbe, which was dated 1201, The Somerset Pipe Rolls, during the reign of King John, known as 'Lackland', 1199 - 1216. 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.