The surname of LYNTON is an English and Scottish habitation name from any of the numerous places so called, found in every part of England and in the Scottish borders. The second element of the name is in all cases from the Old English TUN (enclosure, settlement). The first, in the case of Linton in Northumberland is a British river name LYNE. The other places of this name normally have as their first element LIND (lime-tree). There is also a place of the name near Skipton in West Yorkshire. Most of the place-names that yield surnames are usually of small communities, villages, hamlets, some so insignificant that they are now lost to the map. A place-name, it is reasonable to suppose, was a useful surname only when a man moved from his place of origin to elsewhere, and his new neighbours bestowed it, or he himself adopted it. Early records of the name mention William de Lynton, who was recorded during the reign of Henry III (1216-1272) and Richard de Linton appears in London in 1273. Laurencius de Lynton of Yorkshire, was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379. Most of the European surnames were formed in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The process had started somewhat earlier and had continued in some places into the 19th century, but the norm is that in the tenth and eleventh centuries people did not have surnames, whereas by the fifteenth century most of the population had acquired a second name. William, son of Thomas Linton was baptised at St. James's, Clerkenwell, London in 1686 and John James and Margaret Linton were married at St. Dionis Backchurch, London in 1719. It has long been a matter of doubt when the bearing of coats of arms first became hereditary and it was not until the Crusades that Heraldry came into general use. Men went into battle heavily armed and were difficult to recognise. It became the custom for them to adorn their helmets with distinctive crests, and to paint their shields with animals and the like. Coats of arms accompanied the development of surnames, becoming hereditary in the same way. At first the coat of arms were a practical matter which served a function on the battlefield and in tournaments. With his helmet covering his face and armour encasing the knight from head to foot, the only means of identification for his followers, was the insignia painted on his shield, and embroidered on his surcoat, the draped and flowing garment worn over his armour.
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