This interesting and unusual name, with variant spelling Cordiner and Codner, now found chiefly in Northern Ireland, is a variant of the French name "Cordonnier", which derives from two possible origins, the Anglo-French "cordewaner", Old French "cordoanier", which means a cordwainer, shoemaker, one who made shoes of Cordovan leather, or it may also have been an occupational name for a maker or seller of cord or ribbon, from the Old French "cordon", cord, ribbon. The surname from the former source first appears in records in the early 12th Century, (see below), while the first recording of the name from the latter source was a Stephen le Cordener in 1292, in the Subsidy Rolls of London. Richard Cordewaner was recorded in 1170, in the Pipe Rolls of Staffordshire, and a Walter Lecordewaner was mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucester in 1173. Alley Ann, daughter of Edward and Mary Cordner was christened on February 27th 1831, at Montiagh's, Armagh while Ann Cordner married David Bingham at Armagh on April 27th 1869. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Randolf se Cordewan, which was dated circa 1100, in the Old English Bynames of Devonshire, during the reign of King Henry 1, known as "The Lion of Justice", 1100 - 1135. 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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