This interesting name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and is a variant spelling of the locational name 'Bourton', from the numerous places so called, in for example, Berkshire, Shropshire, Dorset, Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire. Bourton-on-the-Water is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as 'Bortune', and Bourton-on-Dunsmore, Warwickshire is recorded also in the Domesday Book as 'Bortone'. The derivation is from the Old English pre 7th Century 'burg', a fortified place, with 'tun', a town. The following examples illustrate the name development after 1150 (see below): Gerard de Burton (1178), William de Borton (1275-1276) and John Borton (1332, Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire). One Thomas Borton was christened on March 20th 1683 at St. Milborough's, Stoke, Shropshire. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Iolvard in Burhtun, which was dated circa 1150, The Charter Rolls of Yorkshire, during the reign of King Stephen, 'Count of Blois', 1135-1154. 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.

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