Bampton

This name is of locational origin from any of the places so called in Camberland, Oxfordshire, Westmorland and Devonshire. Bampton in Cumberland, Oxfordshire and Westmorland derives form the Old English pre 7th Century 'beamtun', 'beam', tree or plank plus 'tun', enclosure, settlement, hence, 'enclosure made of beams'. Bampton in Oxfordshire was recorded as 'Brentun' in circa 1070 and as 'Brentone' in the Domesday Book in 1086. Bampton in Westmorland was recorded as Banton in 1201. Bampton in Devonshire represents a contracted form of the Old English 'baeohaematun' meaning 'settlement of dwellers by a bath or hot spring'. It was recorded as 'Badentone' in the Domesday Book of 1086 and as 'Baentona' in 1130. The surname was first recorded in the late 13th Century (see below). One Alice Bampton married Thomas Thorogood on February 13th 1603 in St. Dunstan's, Stepney, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Brian de Bampton, which was dated 1272, Feudal Records of Oxfordshire, during the reign of King Henry 111, '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.