This unusual surname is of germanic origins, although long resident in England. It is locational, the development being from a prehistoric river name "Valandra" which translates as "still water". There is in fact a place called Valandar near Koblenz, and strictly speaking this is the "home" of the name. In fact the German spelling form is "Vallender" the name being particularly well recorded in the Rheinland region. Examples of the German recordings include Margaretha Vallender, daughter of Nicholas and Lucia (formerly Cremers) Vallender, baptised at Boppard Oberwesel, Rheinland, on June 14th 1697, whilst on February 5th 1726 Antonius Vallender married Maria Clara Jassen at the same church. In England the spelling form is more erratic, the variant forms pointing to several different nameholders entering the country at different times. The "first" recording , see below, is an English attempt to spell a foreign name, a "sounds like", although the later forms are close to the German. These include Mary Velender who married James Fairclough at the church of St Martin-Vintry, London on June 13th 1824, and Annie Elizabeth Vellender, christened at Christ Church, Southwark, on November 23rd 1879. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert Villaner, which was dated August 9th 1732 at St Olaves Church, Southwark, London, during the reign of King George 11, known as "The last soldier King", 1727 - 1760. 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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