This interesting name drives from the Olde German personal name Leodegar composed of the elements "liutr" meaning "people" or "tribe", plus "gari" a spear. Hence, "People-Spear". St. Leger, a 7th Century martyr and bishop of Autun, contributed to the popularity of the name in France. In Germany, the name was connected with a different saint an 8th Century bishop of Munster. The name was introduced into England by the Normans and is first recorded (without surname) in the 1192 "Pipe Rolls of Hampshire". The surname appears in the latter half of the 13th Century, (see below). In the modern idiom, the name has two spelling variations, Leger and Ledger. On April 25th, 1585, William Ledger and Elizabeth May were married at St. Margarets, Westminster, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Adam Leger. which was dated 1279, in the "Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire". 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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