Dewerson

This unusual and interesting surname, chiefly recorded in Church Registers of the Welsh border counties from the 17th Century onwards, appears to have been mainly borne by Puritans, and other nonconformists of that century who looked more and more to the Bible as the sole authority. The surname is believed to be a patronymic form of the Old Welsh Dewey, Dewie, forms of Dafydd or David, itself coming from the Hebrew "Dodavehu", Beloved of Jehovah", this was the name of the greatest of the earliest kings of Israel, but its popularity among Christians in Britain was largely due to St. David, 6th Century Bishop of Menevia, who became patron saint of Wales. Interestingly, Dewerson may also be taken as a direct translation of the Old Scottish patronymic "Macindeor", son of Dewar or Deor, from "deoradh", a pilgrim. In medieval times the "deoradh" was the person who had the custody of the relic of a saint, and an old family of this name in Perthshire were for centuries custodians of the crozier-head of St. Fillan. On September 19th 1708, Abraham, son of Thomas Dewerson, was christened at Bromyard Independent, Herefordshire, and on March 27th 1762, Jemima, daughter of John and Elizabeth Dewerson, was christened at the Old Meeting House Independent or Protestant Dissenters, Kidderminster, Worcestershire. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Johannes Durson, which was dated December 4th 1672, witness at a christening at Bromyard Independent, Herefordshire, during the reign of King Charles 11, known as "The Merry Monarch", 1660 - 1685.