This unusual and interesting name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational surname from the place called 'Bedlington' in Northumberland. The placename is first recorded in 1050 in St. Cuthbert's 'Historia' as 'Bedlingtun' and in the 'Ecclesiastical history of Durham' or 1130 as 'Betlingtun'. The name means 'the settlement or village of Bed(l)a's people, derived from the Olde English pre 7th Century personal name 'Bed(l)a', a derivative of 'bed', prayer, with the suffix 'ing(a)' meaning 'family, people of', plus 'tun', a settlement, homestead or village. The marriage of Raphe Bedlington to Elizabeth Bidgens was recorded on the 24th May 1679 at Whickham in County Durham, The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Christopher Bedlington, christened, which was dated 22nd August 1574, Jarrow, Co. Durham, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Good Queen Bess, 1558 - 1603. 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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