Recorded in the spellings of Lamplough and Lamplugh, this is an English locational surname. It originates from the small village of Lamplugh, in the county of Cumberland. This was first recorded in the year 1150 as 'Lamplou', and is believed to derive from the pre 7th century Olde English 'llan' meaning church and 'plu' a parish, the parish church. Quite why a village should be called 'The parish church' is unclear, and it is possible that originally the name and the village had other connotations. The surname is ancient being first recorded in the year 1160, when Henry de Lamplugh appears in the rolls of King Henry 11nd of England, 1154 - 1189. Normally locational surnames are 'from' names, which is to say that they were given to people after they left their original homestead, and moved elsewhere. However the exception to this rule is when the nameholders are also the lords of the manor, as in this case. Other examples include John Lamplugh, given as being 'in the time of (King) John), 1199 - 1216, and later Johannes de Lamplogh of Cumberland in the year 1319. George Lamplugh is recorded as being a 'student of Oxford University' in 1588, and Thomas Lamplugh (1615 - 1691) was archbishop of York in 1688 - 1691. He assisted at the coronation of William and Mary in 1689, but having been appointed by James 11nd, the last catholic monarch, had been regarded with suspicion in some protestant quarters.

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