This is a locational surname meaning 'of Markington' which is a village in Yorkshire near Ripley. Markington itself derives from 'march' - the border, limit or boundary-line of a district, 'ing' meaning of the family and 'ton' the farm, so - 'the farm of the family near the boundary line'. In the reign of Edward III, probably around 1350, Henry of Markington bore the following coat of arms: silver, over all a bend of ermines (ermine being the sign of nobility). The first recorded instance of the name occurs in Yorkshire, as below and as Alicia de Merkyngton. There is a Marchington recorded as being resident in Boston, U.S. in 1886. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Johannes de Merkyngton which was dated 1379 The Issue Rolls of Yorkshire during the reign of King Richard 11 Richard of Bordeaux 1377-1399 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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