This interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon and Welsh origin and has three possible sources, the first being a locational name from a place so called in Kent, first recorded in the Saxon Charters of 839, as "an Vaie", and later in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Wi", with the derivation from the Old English pre 7th Century "weol", "wig", a holy place or heathen temple. The two other possible sources are both river names, one in Berkshire, which takes its name from Wycombe, the Wye in this case deriving from the Old English "wic", a dairy farm; the other river which flows through Hereford, and appears as Gwy in Weth is an ancient British (pre Roman) river name, which is first recorded in the "History of Britain" circa 800 as "Gvoy", and later in the Domesday Book as "Waie". The marriages of Margaret Wye and Roberty Whitney took place on 1515 at Icomb, Whitney, Hereford, and in St. Mary's, Woolnoth, London of John Wye and Magdalen Van Hove on November 10th 1573. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Hugh de Wy, which was dated 1275, Hundred Rolls of Kent, 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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