In 1327 a certain William de Ketenore paid tax on land he held at Chibbet, a hamlet just to the southwest of Exford, in the centre of the Forest of Exmoor in west Somerset. The Tax Roll of 1327 spells the name of the place 'Chyobyete', and it is probably of Anglo-Saxon origin, with the opening 'Ch' hard and pronounced 'K'.
The family lived at Chibbet until the early 1600s, and their surname evolved over the years from de Ketenore to Ketnor, Kitnor, Kitner and and Kidner. To distinguish themselves from other Kidners, they sometimes adopted an 'alias' of Chibbet or Chibbett and were known, for example, as 'Kitnor alias Chibbett' or 'Chibbett alias Kitnor'. The alias itself developed, from 'Chibbet' to 'Chibbett', and, some have argued, from 'Chibbett' to 'Gibbett' and 'Gebbett'.
Click on the photograph above, of Porlock Bay, to download a .pdf copy (6.6 MB) of this compilation of census data.
See Appendix 9 for Kitners (alias Chebbett) of Selworthy - 16th to 18th centuries
and Appendix 16 for Kitnors and Chibbetts in Exmoor Parish Registers
Last updated on 11th March 2015