Chrishop

This unusual and interesting name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational name deriving from a now 'lost' place thought to have been situated in Yorkshire near its border with Lincolnshire. An estimated seven to ten thousand villages and hamlets in Britain are known to have disappeared since the 11th Century, due to such natural disasters as the Black Death of 1348, and the enforced 'clearing' of large areas for sheep pastures during the boom in the wool trade of the 13th and 14th Centuries. The placename 'Crissop' or 'Chrisop' means 'the valley where watercress grew', derived from the Old English pre 7th Century 'caerse' (water) cress, and 'hop', small, enclosed valley. The surname development includes Chrissop (1662, Yorkshire), Crissop (1682, London) and cressop (1724, ibid.). Burke's General Armory lists the arms of the Chrishope family as sable (black), a fret or (gold), between eight crescents argent (silver). The marriage of Mary Chrishop and James Sanderson was recorded on March 26th 1793 at Richmond in Yorkshire. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Joane Crisope (marriage to William Daye), which was dated June 5th 1580, Holywell, Lincolnshire, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, '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.