This interesting surname, of Anglo-Saxon origin with variant spellings Pinder, Pindar, Pindor, and Pender, is an occupational name for an official who was responsible for rounding up stray animals and placing them in a pound, deriving from an agent derivative of the Middle English "pin(en)", Olde English pre 7th Century "pyndan", meaning "to shut up, or to enclose". The surname dates back to the early 13th Century (see below), and further recordings include one William le Pendere (1231), in the Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Essex, and Richard le Pundere (1296), recorded in the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex. Recordings from London Church Registers include: the marriage of Margaret Pynder and John Hobby on October 13th 1549, at St. Stephen's, Coleman Street; the christening of Alice, daughter of Richard Pinder, on October 3rd 1558, at St. Lawrence Poutney; and the christening of William, son of William and Cathren Pender, on November 2nd 1729, at St. Olave's, Southwark. One Thomas Pender, aged 24 yrs., a famine emigrant, sailed from Dublin aboard the "Perseverance" bound for New York, on May 18th 1846. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard le Pynder, which was dated 1219, witness in the "Assize Court Rolls of Yorkshire", during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. 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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