Pozzo

This interesting name, with variant forms (Del) Pozzo, Dal Pozzo and (Della) Pozzo, is an Italian variant of the French name Puits, itself coming from the Old French "puts", (Latin, "puteus", a well or pit), and originally given as a topographical name to one resident by a village well. A Coat of Arms granted to a (Dal) Pozzo family of Verona, (Northern Italy), depicts a bricked well over which hangs a red bucket on a bar of the same colour. The shield is gold with green grass along the base. These Arms are recorded heraldically in Rietstap's "Armorial General", (circa 1680). The surname Pozzi appears on record in London church registers from the early part of the 19th Century, (see below). On September 5th 1847, Eliza Pozzi, an infant was christened in St. Andrew's, Holborn, and on February 2nd 1862, one, Sophia Pozzi was christened in St. John the Baptist, Shoreditch, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Louisa Emma Pozzi, (christening), which was dated January 13th 1837, College Street, Chelsea, London, during the reign of King William 1V, known as "The Sailor King", 1830 - 1837. 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.