This name was derived from the Old English word AEOELNOO, a name meaning noble and daring. The earliest of the name on record is AELNOD, ALNOTH and ALNOD, who were listed as tenants in the Domesday Book of 1086. Alnodus Ingeniator was documented in 1177, County Surrey, Alnotus Papillun was recorded in 1197, County Norfolk, and Ailnothus Peni was recorded in Norfolk in 1204. Richard Eylnoth was documented in 1254, County Kent. William Alnath of the County Wiltshire, was recorded in the year 1273. Thomas Alnowe, 1427, County Essex. Ailnoth Arscote registered at Oxford University in the year 1513. Dew Brockett and Harriot Allnut were married at St. George's, Hanover Square, London in 1787. The College of Arms state that the only official record is the Grant of Arms to John Allnutt of Clapham Common, gentleman in 1861. Members of this family had used coats of arms although these were without authority, not having registered in the Official Records. The earliest known use of Arms is by Sir Henry Allnutt of Ibstone (1618-1684) and by his son Henry of Middle Temple (1650-1724), the founder of the Goring Heath Charity. During the Middle Ages, when people were unable to read or write, signs were needed for all visual identification. For several centuries city streets in Britain were filled with signs of all kinds, public houses, tradesmen and even private householders found them necessary. This was an age when there were no numbered houses, and an address was a descriptive phrase that made use of a convenient landmark. At this time, coats of arms came into being, for the practical reason that 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.