De Metz

This unusual name is of medieval French (Ashkenazic) origin and is a locational surname deriving from the place called "Metz" in the (historical) province of Lorraine, near to the German border. Locational surnames were usually given to the local lord and landowner(s), and especially to those former inhabitants who left their original home towns and went to live or work in another area. The surname "de Metz" does not appear in England until the late 18th Century (see below) and thereafter has never been common. The name is recorded heraldically in Rietstaps "Armorial General" as a golden globe surmounted by a cross on an azure background. Angelina de Metz was baptized on the 18th September 1814 at the Hambro Synagogue, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Frances de Metz, married James Murray, which was dated 10th May 1788, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London, during the reign of King George III, Farmer George, 1760 - 1820. 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.