This is a metonymic occupational name, deriving from the Olde English pre 7th Century "stan" - a stone and "heawan" - to hew. The name was originally given to a stone mason or quarryman and was first recorded as a surname in the late 13th Century. One John Stonehewere or Stonier, of Barleyford, Cheshire is recorded in Wills Records at Chester in 1605. In the modern idiom, the name has four spelling variations:- Stonehewer, Stonier, Stanier and Stanyer. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Thomas Stonhewar. which was dated 1279 - the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire. during the reign of King Edward I, 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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