The Puncher surname

The gospel according to Rev. E. G. Punchard

In 1894 E. G. Punchard (D.D. Oxon) privately published fifty copies of his own research into what he saw as the demise in fortunes of the once prosperous Punchards of Heanton-Punchardon in Devon. In his book, entitled "Punchard of Heanton-Punchardon : Records of an Unfortunate Family", he writes the following:

THE NAME AND IT'S VARIANTS

The name of Punchard appears first in England on the Roll of Battle Abbey. Holinshed spells it PUNCHARDOUN; Duchesne and Stow PUNCHARDON; and on the Dives Roll it is found as PONTCHARDON. This last form is the nearest to Pontcardon, a village close to Neuffla, in Normandy, where the family was noted in the ninth and tenth centuries.

It is variously written, in the old documents, Punchard, Ponchard, and even Porchardon; Punchet is mentioned by Stow; Punigiant, alias Puniant, is in Brady's Catalogue of the Great Tenants, taken from the Domesday Book. Altogether, in England and France, the word has more than fifty variants; the chief of which, omitting the final "don" or "doun", are as follows:

PUNCHARD
PUNCHERD
PUNSHARD
PUNSHERD
PUNTCHARD

PONCHARD
PONCHERD
PONSHARD
PONSHERD
PONTCHARD

PUNTCARD
PUNCARD
PUNSHON
PUNCEON
PUNCYN

PONTCARD
PONCARD
PONCHON
PONCYN
PYNSON

Many of these are obvious misspellings; written at times in haste, after imperfect hearing, or copied erroneously. The chief families have few varieties; and these, whatever they are, are mostly continued in the same line.

Mr. Folkard is inclined to look at the origin of the name beyond that of the Norman Vill where it is first recorded; and to see in it the relic of an office, rather than a locality. If so, its first intention was one of great importance - no less than the Keeper (Warden) of the Bridge. And as "pontifex" means the "builder of the bridge", so "pont-chardon" means its guardian.

"Pinchard" is not a form of "Punchard", though "Pynchard" looks very like the stepping stone between them. Anyhow the words are not interchanged in the English documents; the first "Pinchard" came from Normandy, in 1066; and his name appears on the battle roll, next to that of "Punchardoun".

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