In message <001b01c545c3$3e0c7430$d4736051@SNA123456789>, heather smith <heather.smith983@ntlworld.com> writes >I have no connection with this name but does anyone know the origin. Two of the most probable origins are closely connected. In the days when the Saxons were the stroppy serfs of Norman barons or knights, they were bound to the soiul, belonging to their owner, who could sell them on to someone else. So if they decided to leave town, the lord could get pretty annoyed, and if they were useful workmen, he would send the dogs (and his Normans) after them. When hauled back, they need3ed to be taught not to run again - so either shackles or even an iron spike through the foot, to lame them enough to stop running but not to make them useless for working. The spiked foot would not heal well and often swelled up, giving the owner the name poddig fot, swell foot. If things went really wrong, the foot had to be amputated and replaced by an iron clog. - so poid de fer, iron foot. So you've got runaways in the family, but at least runaways worth catching. -- Eve McLaughlin Author of the McLaughlin Guides for family historians Secretary Bucks Genealogical Society