This most interesting surname derives from three possible sources. As Moulin it is definately as French as the Moulin Rouge or the red mill. It is either occupational and describes a miller, or it is locational from a place called Moline, which means the mill. In some instances, it may derive from the Old Swedish word "mo", a sand-dune or heathland; hence a topographical name for a dweller by or on a sand-dune or heathland. From this source also one finds the surnames Mo, Moe, and diminutives Mohlen, Molen, Mohlin, Mollin, and others. The surname first appears in the late 13th Century (see below), while other early examples of the surname include Adam del Molyn, mentioned in the Assize Court Rolls of Staffordshire in 1289; and William de Molyns, recorded in 1297 in the "Minister's Accounts of the Earldom of Cornwall". Marie Moulin, was a French Huguenot protestant emigre, who was recorded in London on January 27th 1639 at St Katherines by the Tower (of London) whilst John Molin was one of the early settlers in America, having embarked from London in 1635 aboard the "Primrose" for Virginia. A coat of arms depicting three heads of lances within a silver annulet, was granted to a Molin family in Brittany, France. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Jon de Molyn, which was dated 1274, in the "Hundred Rolls of Essex", during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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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