This surname is of English locational origin from any of the numerous places so called from the Old English pre 7th Century "lang" or "long" meaning long, plus "tun", an enclosure or settlement. These places include Langton in Leicestershire, recorded as "Langtone" in the Domesday Book of 1086: Langton in the North Riding of Yorkshire, appearing as "Langeton" in the Domesday Book; and three parishes of the name in Lincolnshire. Langton in Durham, however, recorded as "Langadun" circa 1050, in the "Historia de Sanctus Cuthberto", derives its second element from the Old English "dun", a hill. The surname was first recorded in the latter part of the 12th Century (see below). The manor in Langton, Lincolnshire, was held by the Earl of Chester and in 1196, Osbert de Langton gave tithes of "two oxgangs and one toft" to the dean and chapter of Lincoln. Stephen Langton (deceased 1228), famous theologian, historian and poet, was archbishop of Canterbury 1207 - 1228, and one Thomas Langton who sailed for Virginia in the "Prosperous" in May 1679, was an early settler in America. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Osbert de Langeton, which was dated 1191, The Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire, during the reign of King Richard 1, "Richard the Lionheart", 1189 - 1199. 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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