This English surname is locational from two places called Skipton, in the county of Yorkshire. The placenames are derived from a Scandanavian form of the Old English pre 7th Century "sciptun", meaning a sheep-farm". Locational surnames were developed when former inhabitants of a place moved to another area, usually to seek work, and were best identified by the name of their birthplace. Both villages were recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book, commissioned by King William 1st, known as 'The Conqueror'. Amongst the many recordings particularly in London are the marriages of Alice Skipping on October 31st 1547, at St Olav's, Heart Street, and Anne Skipton, who married John Squiers at the church of St. Mary Somerset, on July 18th 1585. Later recordings include Henty Skippings at St. John's Hackney, on March 20th 1620, and Elizabeth Frances Skippen and John Howes Tipple on May 3rd 1851 at Christchurch, Greyfriars. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John de Skipton, which was dated 1335, in the heraldic roll of honour of the (revived) Knights of the Round Table, during the reign of King Edward lll, known as ' The Father of the English Navy', 1327 - 1377.

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