This name, with variant spelling Troghton, is of English locational origin from Troughton Hall, an estate in the parish of Kirkby Ireleth, Lancashire. The name derives from the Old English pre 7th Century "trog" literally meaning "trough", but used here in a transferred sense to describe a hollow or valley resembling a trough. The second element is the Old English "tun", a farm or settlement; hence, "settlement in a hollow". The surname from this source is particularly well recorded in Lancashire church registers from the mid 16th century, (see below). In June 1548 Kataran Troghton and John Cowhird were married in Ulverston, and on August 15th 1568, Elizabeth Troughton married a John Tomplinson in Dalton in Furness. An interesting namebearer was Edward Troughton (1753-1835), scientific instrument maker, and original member of R.A.S. and F.R.S.. He made the "beam-compass" and "hydrostatic balance", and erected "mural circles" at Greenwich in 1812. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Troughton (personal name not noted), which was dated January 21st, 1540 - Marriage Records of Aldingham Lancashire, during the reign of King Henry VIII, "Bluff King Hal", 1509 - 1547. 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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