Easthope

This is an Olde English pre 7th century locational name. It has several possible places of origination, although the Shropshire village of Easthope is the most likely. This translates as "the place at the east (end) of the valley". It is said that in some cases the name can be topographical and describe a person who was resident by "a parcel of land enclosed by marsh", although as above dependent on the situation it can mean "a small enclosed valley". There is no absolute definition, the precise meaning varying in different localities. As a place name we have a very early recording in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles of 901 A.D. for the county of Salop (Shropshire) as 'Esthop', and in the 1086 Domesday Book as 'Easthop'. Amongst the early surname recordings is that of William Estoppe in the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex in 1327, which means that either he was a long way from Salop, or there was some other spot in Sussex so named. Early recordings of the surname taken from the first church registers include Richard Eastope who married Maude Howells at Much Wenlock on November 9th 1582, and Richard Easthope, christened at Long Stanton, Shropshire, on May 27th 1673. Other recordings are those of John Easthope, a witness at Broseley church on the 16th of November 1726, and Richard Eastup of Madeley on September 26th 1784. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John de Esthop, which was dated 1275, in the "Hundred Rolls of Shropshire", during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots" 1272 - 1307. 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.