Ingrey

This unusual surname is one of the oldest recorded, although curiously it was originally a baptismal or personal name. It derives from the ancient Norse-Viking 'Ingirior', which developed into the later 'Ingrid', and is first recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book as 'Ingrede of Yorkshire'. Contrary to popular opinion, not fact, women did hold land in their own name, and this first recording makes this clear. Furthermore the name occurs quite regularly in the early medieval rolls, being shown by further recordings such as Ingreda of Norfolk in 1106, and Ingerithe of Lincoln in 1163. The very early surname recordings include Thomas Ingrith, recorded in the Hundred Rolls of Huntingdonshire in 1279, whilst Thomas Ingre of Cambridge appears in the year 1320. This is the first known example of the 'modern' surname spellings, with Edward Ingry being recorded in the same county in 1563. Later examples taken from authentic church registers include William Ingrye who married Elizabeth Kynge at St Mary Moses, London, on January 12th 1619, and John Ingree, who married Mary Hutchinson at St Margaret Pattens, also London, on February 9th 1712. Elizabeth Ingrey married Charles William John Colleton at St James Church, Westminster, on February 1st 1783, and Anne Ingray, daughter of David and Jane Ingray, christened at St Martins in the Field, Westminster, on May 21st 1760. The name is recorded in many forms and these include Ingrey, Ingry, Ingrye, Ingray, and Ingree, although this latter variation seems to be extinct. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Alexander Ingerith, which was dated 1221, in the assize court rolls of the county of Warwick, 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.