This interesting surname of English origin is a locational name from any of the various places so called, for example in Greater London, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Suffolk, Wiltshire, and Warwickshire, deriving from the Old English "street" meaning "Roman road" plus "ford", "ford", hence a ford by which a Roman road crossed a river. The surname dates back to the late 11th Century, (see below). Further recordings include one Roger de Strat-Forthe (1273), "The Hundred Rolls of Buckinghamshire", and Walter de Stratforde (1328) "The Subsidy Rolls of Somerset". Variations in the idiom of the spelling include one Bridgett, daughter of John Stratford, who was christened on October 16th 1594, at St. John Hackney, London. Ales Stratford was christened on May 19th 1598, at St. Margaret Moses, London, and Anne, daughter of John Stratford, was christened on August 7th 1603, St. Matthew, Friday Street, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert de Stratford, which was dated 1086, Domesday Book, during the reign of King William 1, "The Conqueror", 1066 - 1087. 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.