Mushart

Recorded in the spellings of Mustard, Mushart, and Mustart, this is a surname of Olde French pre 10th century origins, and introduced into England by the Norman invaders of 1066. As first recorded in the Pipe Rolls of the county of Yorkshire in the year 1191, it is a nickname for a hot, peppery, character, called in this case Adam Mustard. This is a description that probably also applied to William Mustard of Hereford in the Pipe Rolls of 1206. However later the name is occupational and described a spice merchant as in the recording of John le Mustarder of Cambridge in the Subsidy Tax Rolls in 1327, and Adam le Mustardman, in the Subsidy Rolls of Suffolk in the same year. Curiously surnames deriving from nicknames seem to have 'stuck'; and become hereditary as we know them in the 20th century, much earlier than occupational surnames. Before the 15th century these tended only to be come hereditary when a son or grandson continued in the family tradition, otherwise the surname changed as the job changed. Many nickname surnames were extremely 'robust', and highly descriptive. Not only does this seem not to have bothered the original name holders, rather the reverse, as Chaucerhas shown, many glorified in their explicitness! However after the Elizabethan reign and the coming of the Puritans, a long period of gentification set in, which saw many early surnames disappear. Fortunately this colourful surname has remained with us, and it is to be hoped, will continue for many centuries.