The surname of ALDERTON was a locational name 'of Alderton' places in Essex, Gloucestershire and Shropshire. The name was derived from the Old English word ' aldertun ' and literally meant the dweller by the alder trees, from residence nearby. Local names usually denoted where a man held his land, and indicated where he actually lived. Early records of the name mention Aldritone (without surname) listed as a tenant in the Domesday Book of 1086. In 1086 the compilation of the Domesday Book was ordered by William the Conqueror (1027-87), king of England from 1066. He was born in Failaise, the bastard son of Robert, Duke of Normandy, by Arlette, a tanner's daughter. On his father's death in 1035, the nobles accepted him as a duke. When Edward the Confessor, King of England died in 1066, William invaded England that Autumn, on 14th October, 1066 killing Harold (who had assumed the title of King). English government under William assumed a more feudal aspect, the King's tenants-in-chief and all title to land was derived from his grants, and the Domesday Book contains details of the land settlements, and the names of the owners of such. Alretun (without surname) was documented in Shropshire in the year 1150. William Aldertone of Yorkshire, was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379, and Edward Aletun appears in County Lancashire in 1400. When the coast of England was invaded by William The Conqueror in the year 1066, the Normans brought with them a store of French personal names, which soon, more or less, entirely replaced the traditional more varied Old English personal names, at least among the upper and middle classes. A century of so later, given names of the principal saints of the Christian church began to be used. It is from these two types of given name that the majority of the English patronymic surnames are derived and used to this day. In many parts of central and western Europe, hereditary surnames began to become fixed at around the 12th century, and have developed and changed slowly over the years. As society became more complex, and such matters as the management of tenure, and in particular the collection of taxes were delegated to special functionaries, it became imperative to distinguish a more complex system of nomenclature to differentiate one individual from another.