This interesting surname may derive from two possible origins. Firstly it may be of English locational origin from either "Whielden Lane" in Amersham. Buckinghamshire or from "Wheeldon" in North Huish, Devon. The former place so called from the Old English element "hweol", - wheel, (referring perhaps to a rounded shape) and "denu", valley means "curving valley", while the latter recorded as "Whyledon" in 1520, in the placenames of Devon, is composed of the Old English element "hweol", plus the second element "dunn" - hill, hence the round hill. The name may also be of English locational origin from various places called "Whitton" in Durham Northampton, Shropshire Suffolk and south west London, from the Old English nickname "Hwita", white and "-tun", settlement. At St. Mary Woolnolt, London, Ann daughter of Thomas Wytton was christened on December 5th 1546. Ann Wytton married Robert Cripps at the same church on May 20th 1564. On September 13th 1567, Elizabeth Wheaten married Robert Wilkinson at Northill in Berkshire. Ann Wheedon was christened at St. Benet Pauls Wharf, London on January 28th 1781. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Hugo de Hweldon, which was dated 1279, Hundred Rolls of Oxford, during the reign of King Edward 1, "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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