Diprose

This unusual and interesting name is of French locational origin, introduced into England in the form of "de Preaux" and Anglicized to "Diprose" and "Deeprose". There are seven places called "Preaux" in Normandy alone, such as "St. Michael de Preaux" and "Notre Dame de Preaux", so the name is likely to have been introduced first by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066. However, the recordings of the name suggest that it was re-introduced by the French Huguenot refugees fleeing religious persecution on the Continent in the late 16th and 17th Centuries, as in the first recordings below. The French word "preaux" means "inner courtyard" or "covered yard". The variant form as "Deeprose", is recorded at St. Mary Magdalene, Bermondsey, London, on July 3rd 1842, when George and Harriet Deeprose were witnesses at the christening of their daughter, also called Harriet. Other children of George Deeprose were Thomas, christened on December 21st 1845; William, on June 16th 1850; and Susanna, on January 21st 1855, all at the same church. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Elizabeth Diprose, which was dated 22nd June 1652, marriage to John Wilson, at Horsmonden, Kent, during the reign of Oliver Cromwell, known as "The Great Protector", 1649 - 1658. 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.