Deveraux

Recorded in many spellings forms (see below) and including the anglicised versions of Deverick(s) and Deverock, this very interesting surname is of Norman-French origin. Introduced into England at the Conquest of 1066, it is a locational name from the town of Evreux, in the department of Eure, Normandy. The place is so called from having apparently been the capital of the "Eburovices", a Gaulish tribe of the pre 7th century, whilst the tribal name which gave rise to the later surname derives from the river name "Ebura" (now the Eure), meaninmg the yew trees. Locational surnames were developed when former inhabitants of a place moved to another area, or in this case another country, and were most easily identified by the name of their birthplace. The surname in England is first recorded in the latter half of the 11th Century (see below), and has many spellings ranging from Everist, Everix, Everiss and Evreux to Deveraux, Devereu, and Deverose. Early examples of the surname recording include: Walter de Eureus in the 1159 Pipe Rolls of the county of Herefordshire, and Stephen de Euereus in the Memoranda Rolls of Worcestershire for the year 1199. Later recordings of the surname from surviving church registers include: the marriage of Ellyn Everest and Edward Pullinger, at the church of St Margaret Pattens in the city of London, on September 14th 1590, Walter Devorux, who married Sara Mahama (?) at the church of St Mary Lothbury, and in the same year Gilbert Devoricke was a witness at the famous church of St Martins in the Field, Westminster, on November 29th. Other recordings include the marriage of Recherd Everest and Grace Knevet, on December 19th 1605, at St. Mary Somerset, and John Deverick at St Pancras Old Church, also city of London, on January 30th 1831. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Roger de Ebrois, which was dated 1086, in the Domesday Book of Norfolk. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.