Wetton - Name

This name is of English locational origin from a place thus called in Staffordshire. Recorded as Wettindun in the 1252 Charter of that county and as Wetton in the 1327 Subsidy Rolls the name derives from the Olde English pre 7th Century 'weta' meaning 'wet', plus 'dun', a down or hill pasture. The surname is particularly well recorded in Staffordshire Church Registers from the late 16th Century, (see below). On November 23rd 1581 Elizabeth Wetton and Thomas Bylande were married in Rugeley, and on May 16th 1591 Isabell Wetton married a John Jerven in St. Matthew's Church, Walsall. The christening of Isaacus, son of William Wetton, took place in Leigh parish on May 19th 1661 and on November 23rd 1700 Elizabeth Wetton, an infant, was christened in Stowe. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Agnes Wetton or Wytton, which was dated January 18th 1568, christened in Ellastone, Cheshire, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Good Queen Bess, 1558 - 1603. 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.