Wythe

This interesting surname is of English topographical origin deriving from the Old English pre 7th Century "withthe" or the Middle English "wythe" meaning willow tree, and would have referred to someone who lived by a willow tree. In the modern idiom the surname has many variant spellings including Wyth, With, Withe, was christened at St. Olave Old Jewry, London. Thomas Wythe married Anne Hall, on May 14th 1589, at St. James Clerkenwell, London. On June 1st 1612, the marriage of Anne Wythe to Edward Snelson took place at St. Gregory by St. Paul, London. John Wythe married Mary Gallad, on May 1st 1623, at St. Stephen's, Coleman Street, London. American bearers of the surname Wythe trace their ancestry to Thomas Wythe, who emigrated from England to Virginia in 1680. One of his descendants was the judge George Wythe (1726-1806), mentor of Jefferson and one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence. A coat of Arms granted to the Wythe family depicts three gold griffins walking in pale on a red shield. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Marttin Withe, witness at a christening, which was dated October 1st 1543, St. Olave Old Jewry, London, during the reign of King Henry V111, "Good King Hal", 1509 - 1547. 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.