Wimpress - Name

This is a Huguenot name first recorded in the later 17th Century after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and found now in a variety of spellings. The origin is Dutch - German job descriptive for a 'maker of wine', and in effect is a metonymic nickname from the Medieval period. The name recordings in England show the usual diversity of spelling associated with almost all Huguenot and foreign names of the Middle English period and these include Thomas Wimpress who married Elizabeth Bull at St. James Church, Clerkenwell on July 12th 1743, and Mary Wimperis who married Thomas Harding at St. Clement Danes, Westminster on May 4th 1801. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Wimpriess, which was dated 1676, married at St. Michael le Querne, London, during the reign of King Charles II, 'The Merry Monarch', 1660 - 1685. 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.