Casemore

This interesting name is of Anglo Saxon origin and is a locational name from Cashmoor in Dorset, which derives from the Old English pre 7th Century 'coerse', cress, and 'mor', fen or marshland, thus marshland where cress grew. In this instance Casemore, and the other variants, Cashmor(e), and Casmore, have been dialectaly altered. During the Middle Ages when it was becoming increasingly common for people to migrate from their native villages, they would often adopt the placename as a means of identification. This must have been so with Casemore as this name is now most frequent in Birmingham, for example, one, Jeyes Casemore was christened on April 17th 1564 at Sheldon, Warickshire, and in Stoke, Edward Casemore married Joane Lynds on October 8th 1630. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Katherine Cashmore (marriage to George Walton), which was dated October 21st 1545, in London, during the reign of King Henry V111, known as 'Good King Hal', 1509 - 1547. 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.