Chasemore

This is an English surname of locational origins. Recorded in the many varied spellings which include Chasemore, Chasemoore, Chasmore, Chassmore, Chasmer, Chasmor, and Chasmoor, it apparently derives from a now "lost" medieval place probably called "Chase-mor" or similar, and translating as "the hunting ground on the moor", and believed to have been in the county of Surrey. There is a high incidence of early recordings in the county, and it is reported by Mr Frank Chasemore of the Isle of Wight, that the surname in the apparently associated spelling of Charismore, is recorded in the court rolls of the town of Dorking, Surrey, between the years 1342 and 1460. Locational surnames were originally given either to the local lords of the manor, or later, as an easy means of identification, to those who left their birthplace to settle elsewhere. In this case early examples of the surname recording taken from surviving church registers of the period include: Thomas Chasemoore, who married Barrary Diddlystone at Ockley, Surrey, on July 19th 1545, Augnes, the daughter of William Chasmore, christened at Snodland, Kent, on January 15th 1570, whilst on January 11th 1583, Alice, the daughter of Thomas Chasmer, was christened at West Clandon, Surrey. Other recordings include: the christening of Nicholas, the son of James Chasmer, at the famous church of St. Dunstan's in the East, Stepney, city of London, on January 11th 1606. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop", often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.