Luscott

This is a rare surname of French Huguenot origins. Now recorded as Luscott, Luskitt, Lescott, Lescot, and no doubt others as well, it derives from the French surnames L'escaut or Lescallet, originally from the Langedoc region of France. It (they) was introduced into England in the 17th century by refugees fleeing the persecution of the protestants by the catholics, and was given the anglicization treatment to provide 'sounds like' spellings. It is said that the word L'escaut refers to an ancient measurement of length similar to the English yard, but this is not proven. The surname development in england follows a well worn path of many similar French or continental surnames. The first spellings are recognisable as foreign but by the third generation, the name was all but English. In this case the first recording, see below, was as Lescallet or Lescalet, but by the mid 18th century it had metamorphosed into Lescot, Nicholas Lescot being recorded at St Annes church, Soho, Westminster, on April 27th 1768. Later recordings include Mary Luskitt at City Road chapel, Finsbury, on January 27th 1811, and Richard Luscott, christened at St Brides church, Fleet Street, London on September 22nd 1816. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Lescalet, which was dated May 2nd 1689, christened at St Dunstans in the east, Stepney, during the reign of King James 11 of England, the last Catholic monarch, 1685 - 1689. 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.