This unusual and interesting name is a variant form of the English occupational surname "Kilner". Originally the word referred to either a potter or one who was in charge of a Kiln. The derivation is from the Old English pre 7th Century word "Cylen(e)" meaning Kiln, itself from the Latin "Culina", kitchen, a derivative of "Coquere", to cook. Early examples of the surname include Robert Kylner of Lincoln in the year 1305, and Johannes Killner of Yorkshire in 1481. In the modern idiom the surname can be spelt in three different ways:- Kilner, Kelner and Killiner. The name development has included Elizabeth Kilynor (1624, London), Alice Killeneer (1682, London), and Mary Killiner who married Henry Hickson on the 23rd February 1764, at St. James, Westminster. The coat of arms has the blazon of a black field, charged with a silver eagle displayed, armed red. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William le Kylnere, which was dated 1292, in the Middle English Surnames of Occupation 1100 - 1350, of Lancashire, during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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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