Fusedale

Recorded as Fewsdale, Fewsdall, Fusedale, Fuesdall, Fusedell, Phusdale, and no doubt others, this is apparently an English surname. It is certainly locational and probably from the north of England, and an area under Viking control. The origination is believed to be from the ancient Scandanvian name Fotr or Fots of lost etymology, in other words we dont known the meaning! However "Fots dael" would seem to be logical except that no such place is believed to any longer exist. This is not unusual, in that several thousand British surnames do originate from now "lost" medieval villages. This may well be another to add to the ever growing list,. As to why these place disappeared has been the subject of several book, but changes in climate, changes in agricultural practices, urbanisation, and to some extent coastal erosion, the great plagues of the late Middle Ages, and war, have all played a part. The surname is recorded in the surviving church registers of the city of London from the early Stuart period. Examples include Winefret Fusedell who married John Butler on December 13th 1618 at the church of St Peter-le-Poer, Sarah Fusedale who married John Bolt at St Anne's Soho, Westminster, on March 25th 1772, and Seth Fewsdale, a christening witness at St John the Baptist, Shoreditch, on May 19th 1839.