Sarsfield

This interesting surname can be regarded as being an Irish name as recordings of same date back as early as the 12th Century. However, the de in the recording of Williemus de Sharisfeld (1252) which appears in the Pipe Rolls of Cloyne, Co. Cork, suggests that it may be a locational name from a place in England, perhaps one of the estimated seven to ten thousand lost villages and hamlets which disappeared from maps in Britain. Enforced clearing of former inhabitants to make way for sheep pastures in the 14th Century and also the Black Death of 1345, were the prime causes of these disappearances. Branches of the family settled in Counties Cork, Limerick and Dublin. Recordings include one Mary Sarsfield who married William Fanshaw on September 9th 1675, at St. Mary - St., Marlebone Road, St. Marylebone, London. Elizabeth Sarsfield married Thomas Goodson on September 18th 1687, at St. James Dukes Place, London, and Ignations Sarsfield married Jane White at St. Michan, Dublin on January 1st 1697. Patrick Sarsfield received from James 11 command of the Irish troops in England and accompanied the King to Ireland in 1689. He fought at the Boyne in 1690. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Thomas de Sarsfield, which was dated 1172, chief standard and bearer to King Henry 11, during the reign of King Henry 11, "The Builder of Churches", 1154 - 1189. 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.