This is a genuine Old English locational and habitional surname which derives from one of the villages called Welton found in six English counties or from resident at a farm (tun) by a stream (waella). The name is also found in Ireland but of English origins, and normally spelt as Whelton. The village name occurs on several occasions in the 1086 Domesday Book. The Lincolnshire version being shown as "Waletune", whilst the Yorkshire one was "Welletuna" - so much for spelling! The surname records include Isabella de Welton appears in the Fines Register for Surrey in 1411. Amongst the famous Welton's was the Rev. Richard Wellton (1617-1726) who by any standards was a "protestant", refusing to take the Oath to George 1 (1715), and eventually dying in Lisbon in 1726. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William de Welletun, which was dated circa 1155, The Gilbertine Monastery Rolls for Lincolnshire, during the reign of King Henry 11, "The Church Builder", 1154 - 1189. 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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