Pizzey

Recorded in several spellings as shown below, this most interesting and unusual surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and locational. However spelt it derives from the village of Pusey, in the county of Berkshire, and which was first recorded as "Pesei and Peise" in the famous Domesday Book of 1086. The derivation is from the Olde English pre 7th century word "peose", meaning pea as in the vegetable, and "-eg", an island or low-lying land; hence an island where peas were grown. Other surnames from this source in the modern idiom include Pezey, Pizey, Pizzey, Pizzie, and Pusey. During the Middle Ages when migration for the purpose of job-seeking was common, people often took their former village name as a means of identification. Early examples include Joan de Pusye, recorded in the Assize Court Rolls of Somerset, circa 1277, and John de Puseye, who is mentioned in the Cartulary of Oseney Abbey, Oxford. Elizabeth, daughter of John and Precelia Peasey, was christened on April 15th 1683, at St. Giles' Cripplegate, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Adam de Pesy, which was dated 1220, in the "Feet of Fines of Berkshire", during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "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.