Cuer

This unusual and interesting name has three possible origins. The first of these is an Anglo - Saxon locational name, from any one of the places in Somerset so called from the river "Curry", on which they stand, the etymology of the river name is obscure. The second and third possible origins are Scottish, either from the place called "Currie" in the former County of Midlothian, recorded in this form in 1230 and thought to be derived from the Gaelic "curraigh", meaning "wet plain, marsh", or from the place called "Corrie" in the former County of Dunfrieshire, named from the Gaelic "coire", cauldron, used of a circular hanging valley on a mountain. The first recording of the name in Scotland is that of Philip de Curry, (1179, Melrose). In the modern idiom, the surname has many variant spellings including Cuer, Curee, Curry, Currie, etc.. On January 14th 1564, Richard Cure married Florence Mallett, at St. Dionis Blackchurch, London. A famous namebearer being, William Cure (deceased 1632), a statuary and master-mason to King James 1st. He worked under Inigo Jones at the Banqueting House, Whitehall. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard de Cury, which was dated 1212, in the "Fees Court Records of Somerset", during the reign of King John, known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.