Boshier

Recorded in several forms including Boshard, Boscard, Boshier, Bosher, Bowsher, Bowshire and others, this can best be described as an English version of a French medieval surname. Derived from the pre 9th century word Buschier, it was occupational for a timber merchant, especially one who prepared and seasoned timber. The term was introduced into the British Isles after the famous Conquest of England in 1066, and its use spread rapidly in the succeeding centuries. A further impetus to the name was given by Huguenot protestant immigrants of the 17th century, who left France to avoid persecution. One example of this "second entry" of the name is that of Francois Boschard, a christening witness at the Threadneedle Street French Huguenot Church, city of London, on September 4th 1726. The first recordings from the 13th century include Henry Boscher in the Assize Rolls of Warwickshire for the year 1221, whilst Robert Le Buscher appears in the London Rolls of 1276. whilst James Bosher married Mary Waring at St Margarets, Westminster, in 1678. A coat of arms granted in France has the blazon of a gold fleur de lis on a blue field, indicating service to the French monarch. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Le Boschier. This was dated 1205, in the Pipe Rolls of Dorset, during the reign of King John, known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.