Lusher

This interesting surname with variant spellings Usher, Ussher, Husher, Lusher, etc., is an occupational name for a janitor or gate-keeper, deriving from the Middle English "usher", Anglo-Norman French "Usser" old French "ussier", hussier" meaning "door or gate". The term was also used in the middle Ages of a court official charged with accompanying a person of rank on ceremonial occasions, and this may be a partial source of the surname. The surname dates back to the mid 13th Century, (see below). Further recordings include one Geoffrey le Uscher (1300), "the Calendar of Letter Book of the city of London", and Richard Lusscher (1319), "The Subsidy Rolls of Bedfordshire". London church recordings include James Lusher who married Margaret Pitkin on February 12th 1575 at St. Lawrence, Poutney, Nicholas Lusher married Dorothy Hunt on August 10th 1581 in London and Anna, daughter of William and Mary Lusher, was christened on October 22nd 1615 at St. Lawrence Jewry and St. Mary Magdalene, Milk Street, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Lussier, witness, which was dated 1243, "The Assize Court Rolls of Somerset", during the reign of King Henry 111, "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. 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.