This interesting name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and is an occupational name for a ploughman, derived from the Old English pre 7th Century "ploh", a plough and "mann", a man. However, the name was given more often to a maker of ploughs than to a ploughman in the modern sense, since ploughing was shared at the appropriate season by virtually all male members of the agricultural community. The name development since 1223 (see below) includes: Philip Ploman (1255, Essex), John (le) Plouman (1275, Lincoln), John le Ploghman (1275, Rutland), John Plowman (1345, Lincoln) and John Plewman (1560, Yorkshire). The modern surname can be found as Plowman, Plewman and Pleuman. Among the sample recording in London are the christening of Phillipp Plowman on October 26th 1595 at St. Botolph's without Aldgate, and the marriage of William Plowman and Margaret Ware on November 5th 1623 at St. Michael's, Cornhill. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert Pleueman, which was dated 1223, in the "Curia Regis Rolls for Wiltshire", during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. 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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