My father was born in 1908 in Tottenham and in 1912 arrived in South Africa with his parents and 4 siblings who were to grow up knowing nothing of grandfathers, grandmothers, uncles, aunts or cousins. It was in the 1960s that I became curious about my ancestors and as luck would have it, found myself in London in 1969. Somerset House was visited and once I saw those old [original] registers I was more determined than ever to research my name. As a rookie, I am sure that I am not the only person, to start out on the family tree trail and not take notice of all those myriad variations of spelling. Fortunately, I soon realised that if I was going to get back to the earlier centuries I needed to start recording all alternate spellings and also broaden the research worldwide. Needless to say, I wish to thank a great number of people who have assisted me over these last 45 years. This help has resulted in the formation of over 50 trees. A few of these trees could possibly be merged as they have very similar beginnings. Just that bit more proof is required, which you may have. Therefore, if you have an interest, please contact me and ask any question related to the name[s].

A great number of the names listed here are as a result of the way they were written by parish clerks or other officials, but there are also a great number that exist purely to the inventiveness of that indisposable army of transcribers.

Cloumn 1                                           Column 2                                               Column 3

Margarson......................................Margerrison..............................Margesson......Surrey/Bucks

Margason.......................................Margerison................................Margisson......Lincs

Margerson......................................Marginson.................................Margesun.......London/Mdx

Margeson.......................................Mar-Gerrison............................Marguson........Surrey

Margetson......................................Margereson...............................Margrison.......Notts

Margotson......................................Margerreson.............................Margeison.......Surrey/Kent

Margitson.......................................Margeson...................................................................................

Margatson......................................Margison....................................................................................

Mardgerum....................................Margarison.................................................................................

Margeston......................................Margason...................................................................................

Margaison......................................Margenson.................................................................................

Margaretson...................................Marjesson...................................................................................

Margateson....................................Margarson...................................................................................

Margretson....................................Margieson.....................................................................................

What is interesting is the distribution of these names for England  births registered in the 1800s.

Column 1 would apply mainly to Norfolk, Suffolk, London/Middlesex and Gloucestershire.

Column 2 shows names that are nearly all in Lancashire, Yorkshire and Derbyshire. Plus all names with a J such as Marjason, Marjarum, Marjerison, Marjerrison, Marjerum and last but by no means least the wonderful spelling of the family group that chose Mar-Gerrison, with or without a hyphen.

Column 3 are names generally used in more specific locations.

Plus there are at least 75 additional variations  in the various indexes available, such as IGI and the 8 census returns. PLUS:- James Mardghurm [1881 in Norfolk] & Marjarham [1901 in Durham] & Mardghum [1911 in Durham: who was born in Attleborough, Norfolk]; Margasonton, which is for Charles Margitson and his family. He was born in New Buckenham and moved to Beverley in Yorkshire. In 1841 there is Mackieson and in 1851 there is Marguerson. Both relate to the Margeison family of Deal in Kent.

Then there is the Vargarson..Vargason..Varguson family, mainly from Ashill in Norfolk and another from that county variously spelt Margate; Merget; Murgate; Murgatt; Murget; Murgett.

The earliest records are from the ‘Pedigrees of Surrey’ by William Berry, who rightly or wrongly described himself as a registering clerk in the College of Arms. He writes of a John MARGETSON of Wakefield, living in 1400, who was the father of Richard of Rotherham who was the father of Thomas, who was buried in January, 1540, aged eighty-one. They are the ancestors not only many Margetsons but also of the Margesson family.

No concrete proof of the how/where/when the name started. The first assumption is that the derivation of the name is ‘son of Margaret’, which is my preferred choice, especially when thinking of all the MARG?SONS not linked to John of Wakefield. Mr. Berry had other ideas when he writes that: “Tradition affirms that the origin is French- ARGENSON”. He unfortunately does not quote his source[s].

Without doubt, our most famous namesake was James Margetson, born 1600 in Yorkshire. By 1660 he was Archbishop of Dublin and in 1663 translated to Armagh and succeeded Bramhall as Primate of all Ireland. He too has had the names Margerison; Margesson and Margeston applied to him. Among his descendants are many Dukes, Earls, Viscounts and Barons plus Winston Churchill and Princess Diana, mother of the future King of England.

The Margetson family of Westmorland starts with John born about 1780 who was a solicitor. His son Parker Margetson was a doctor in London.

In 1969 and again 1972 I was made welcome at the home of Sir Philip [1894-1985] a great grandson of John. Major Sir Philip Reginald MARGETSON, K.C.V.O., M.C., Assistant Commissioner, Metropolitan Police and on retirement became the Chairman of Securicor. At the coronation of Queen Elizabeth it was Sir Philip who led the procession on his white horse Quail. Sir Philip was of the opinion that his lineage was from the Archbishop but I have not yet found the connection, in spite of the many, many hours spent on the project.

The Margetson family of Gloucestershire starts with James in about 1734. A descendant of his is Sir John Margetson, KCMG born in 1927. He is a former British Ambassador to Vietnam, the United Nations, and the Netherlands. Gentleman Usher of the Blue Rod 1992-2002 [wikipedia:The Gentleman Usher of the Blue Rod is the Gentleman Usher to the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, established in 1818]

John MARGARETSON and Esther had issue in Kenninghall, Norfolk. They have  among their descendants: Musicians, Artists and Actor

Edward John Margetson 1860-1907:- In 1907 Boosey & Co., of 295 Regent Street, London published the music for TOMMY, LAD! One of several pieces of music composed by Edward.

His younger son was William Henry Margetson, a painter who also worked a lot as a book illustrator. Hester, William's daughter, has her artwork displayed on many postcards.

Arthur Charles Margetson. Stage and screen actor in the 1930s on the London stage and Broadway. Later he was in many films in Hollywood.

Henry Francis MARGETSON of the island of St. Kitts has a number of highly successful descendants Doctors, Musicians, a Poet and the man who allowed me to become a friend, the very talented Desmond Willoughby MARGETSON 1926-2008, an Engineer/Mathematician/Inventor. Des introduced the tennis bubble in the April 1957 issue of World Tennis. In January 1995, he finally received recognition for this major contribution to tennis. The New York Times published a half-page article titled 37 Years Later, Father of Winter Tennis Is Recognized. Subsequently he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the U.S. Tennis Association.

I wish had the space to tell you of many other MARGETSONS of note.

All of the Birth, Marriage and Death entries from the General Register Offices for England & Wales (since 1837) have been recorded together with references from the England and Wales census from 1841 to 1921 plus the 1939 Register. Thanks to familysearch.com who have made it possible to extract most occurrences of the name in Norfolk parish registers. A great deal of data has been supplied by other researchers over the many years.