Catcheside

This interesting and unusual name, with variant spellings Catchasyd and Catchaside, is recorded in Lincolnshire church registers from the mid 16th Century, and is believed to be of locational origin, from a lost village formerly in that county. It is estimated that seven to ten thousand villages and hamlets have now disappeared from the maps in Britain. The prime cause of these "disappearances" was the enforced "clearing" and dispersal of the former inhabitants to make way for sheep pastures in the 14th Century, along with natural causes such as the Black Death of 1348. The first element in Catheside is the old English personal byname Catta, plus "side", a hill slope; hence "Catta's slope". On October 24th 1568 William Catchasyd and Agnes Wilson were married in Spalding, and on February 1st 1604, Elizabethe Catcheside, an infant, was christened in St. Bartholomew's, Covenham. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Alyson Cathesyed, (christening), which was dated April 4th 1562, St. Peter's, Saltfleetby, Lincolnshire, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, "Good Queen Bess", 1558 - 1603. 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.