CHING

Porthleveners are familiar with the surname CHING, earlier from the granite works on the quayside and later from the monumental masons W H CHING in The Gue. More recently W H CHING has been the trading name of monumental mason, Steve DYER. His brother, Dave, is also a monumental mason, but trading in Truro as DYERS. CHIN / CHING surname in Cornwall. The name is written CHIN as baptisms, marriages and burials are recorded in St. Keverne Parish registers until about 1800. When a Richard Ching marries, in St Keverne in 1798, he signs his name CHING while on the same entry form the clerk, or the Incumbent minister, records the name as CHIN. CHING is used consistently in St. Keverne from 1800 as it has been by Richard’s descendants in New Zealand. Mr Douch, curator of the Royal Institution of Cornwall wrote:“CHING is a north of Cornwall name, particularly from the parish of Kilkampton. From the late seventeenth century a spattering of CHING’s were in the west of the county, especially in the parish of Phillack”. A dictionary of surnames claims CHINN/SHINN as from Anglo Saxon CYNG equaling ‘royal’ in meaning. This dictionary author cites Alwine se Cyng (1050-1071 as mentioned in Robert of Gloucester’s Chronicle. (A Londoner named Ching about to settle in Australia in the 1930 period changed his surname, probably without knowing the linguistic link, to King, to avoid the oriental connotation at that time when Australia had a strong ‘whites only’ immigration policy). Another reference, given by Ekwall (1974) in his Early London Personal Names, records a Wilfric CHING there about 1130. The Cornish Lay Subsidy Rolls of 1524 and 1545 use the spelling CHYNG and were probably Mr. Douch’s reference source or prove him correct. Men with the forenames Nicholas, Thomas, Roger and Richard lived then in the northern Cornish parishes of Morwenstow, Kilkampton, Stratton and Tamerton. These Subsidy Rolls list the names of tax-payer debtors to the Crown over sixteen years of age with income from land or taxable goods of two pounds per year, also those whose annual wage was one pound or more. No Ching or variant surname is on any 1530 Duchy of Cornwall Muster Roll.The name is well represented, again in the northern parishes of Cornwall, on Protestation Rolls of 1641 (as by TL Stoate). Only four parishes are believed to be missing from these Rolls. In the lists are CHIN/CHYNG/CHING males – Richard, Roger, Nicholas, Francis, Emanuell, William and several named John. There are also Cheren, Theophilus, Phillip, Thomas, Samuel, Anthonie and Abraham who are living in Kilkampton, Stratton, Poundstock and Morwenstow parishes. The Protestation Roll parish geographically nearest to St. Keverne is Mevagissy on the Channel coast where Roger and Nicholas CHING are listed.Covering records of the next decade Stoate has edited Cornwall Hearth and Poll Tax lists 1660-64. In these same northern parishes we find Pascho CHINS; Mary CHING; Cesar CHINGE with Grace, John, Abraham and Rebeccah. On the Channel coast at Mevagissey and at St. Mewan are Nicholas CHINGE, assessed on three hearths and paying 2/- poll tax 1660, and Elies Katerin paying 1/-.Other references Contrary to popular belief the name ‘CHING’ is not Chinese. In Chinese culture there are only 100 original family names and CHING is not one of them. The CHING, or more properly Q’IN, Dynasty was not Chinese but Manchurian and therefore a foreign occupying power hated by the indigenous HAN people.One explanation of the name is that it was a local expression ‘at the chine’ for residence thereby. A chine was a crevice or chasm such as Blackgang Chine or Shanklin Chine. Variants exist such as CHYNE, CHYNNE, CHINNE or CHIN. Another origin of the name is supposed to be someone with a long chin or sharp beard.The earliest reference to the name is of Henry de CHINE in Cambridgeshire in 1273, which is found in the Hundred Rolls of 1277. Words: Kevin & Tracy Ching