Aaron Marchant (1844 - 1926)

Born 4 Nov 1844 in Somerset, England

Descendants

Died 3 Nov 1926 at age 81 in Guthrie Center, Guthrie, Iowa, United States

Biography

This biography was auto-generated by a GEDCOM import.^[1] It's a rough draft and needs to be edited.

Name

Name: Aaron /Marchant/

Given Name: Aaron

Surname: Marchant^[2]

Burial

Burial:

Place: Yale Cemetery, Yale, Guthrie Co, IA

Surname: Marchant

This name, with variant spellings Marchent, Marchand, Marquand, Merchant and Le Marchant, derives from the Old French "marcheant" (Middle English "marchand"), meaning a merchant or trader, and was originally given as an occupational name to a buyer or seller of goods. The ultimate root of the name lies in the Late Latin "mercis", commerce, exchange or merchandise. Job-descriptive surnames originally denoted the actual occupation of the namebearer, and later became hereditary. The surname was first recorded at the beginning of the 13th Century (see below), and one Roger Marchaunt and a Herueus Merchant were listed as witnesses in the 1219 Assize Court Rolls of Yorkshire. In 1240, Ranulph le Marchand appeared in the Fine Court Rolls of Essex, and a Reginald le Marchant was listed in the 1247 Pipe Rolls of Cambridge. An interesting namebearer was Nathaniel Marchant (1739 - 1816), a gem engraver and medallist, who exhibited at the Royal Academy and was assistant engraver at the mint in 1797. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Roger Marchand, which was dated 1202, in the "Pipe Rolls of Berkshire", during the reign of King John, known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. 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. This surname MARCHANT was derived from the Old French 'marchaunte' the name given to a merchant, a trader. Occupational surnames refer directly to the particular trade or occupation followed by the first bearer of the name. These occupations can be divided into classes such as agricultural, manufacturing, retailing and so on. In the Middle Ages, at least among the Christian population, people did not pursue specialized occupations exclusively to the extent that we do today. Smiths, millers and wrights were indeed specialists, but even they would normally have their own smallholdings for growing crops and keeping a few animals. Others were simply designated as the servant of some person of a higher social status, as a maid or parson.It was brought into England in the wake of the Norman Invasion of 1066, and Roger Marcand, recorded in the year 1202 in County Berkshire, appears to be the first of the name on record. Roger Mauchaunt appears in Yorkshire in 1219, and Ranulph le Marchand was documented in 1240 in County Essex. Surnames as we know them today were first assumed in Europe from the 11th until the 15th century. They had not been in use in England before the Invasion of William the Conqueror in 1066, when they were introduced into England by the Normans. They themselves had not long before adopted them. It became, in course of time, a mark of gentler blood, and it was deemed a disgrace for a gentleman to have but one single name, as the meaner sort. It was not until the reign of Edward II (1307-1327) that it became general practice for all people. Other records of the name mention Thomas le Marchaunt, 1273 County Huntingdonshire. Samson le Marchant, ibid. Willelmus Castleforth Merchand, was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379. John Picknett and Mary Markant were married in London in the year 1615. In many parts of central and western Europe, hereditary surnames began to become fixed at around the 12th century, and have developed and changed slowly over the years. As society became more complex, and such matters as the management of tenure, and in particular the collection of taxes were delegated to special functionaries, it became imperative to distinguish a more complex system of nomenclature to differentiate one individual from another.

Sources

1. ↑ Marchant-505 was created by Tom Greene through the import of wikislaybaugh1.ged on Mar 14, 2015. This comment and citation can be deleted after the biography has been edited and primary sources are included.
2. ↑ Source: #S41 Page: Ancestry Family Trees Quality or Certainty of Data: 3

• Source: S41 Abbreviation: Public Member Trees Title: Public Member Trees Author: Ancestry.com Publication: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006.Original data - Family trees submitted by Ancestry members.Original data: Family trees submitted by Ancestry members.; Note: This information comes from 1 or more individual Ancestry Family Tree files. This source citation points you to a current version of those files. Note: The owners of these tree files may have removed or changed information since this source citation was created. Repository: #R19 Paranthetical: Y
• Repository: R19 Name: Ancestry.com Address: Ancestry.com CONT 360 West 4800 North, Provo, UT 84604 Name: Ancestry.com Address 1: 360 West 4800 North, Provo, UT 84604