Schowenburg

This is surely one of the most interesting surname that we have ever researched. It appears to be locational from some place, probably in the border counties where invading "Scots" crossed a brook, however, if this is the case neither a place nor the surname appears in the records of that area. The name is almost certainly an "anglicization" of the Huguenot "Schowenburg, Schoterbosh" or similar, through Scotchbourouge, as shown. The name recordings include mary Scotchbrook who married Charles Ashton at Hadley, Middlesex on June 29th 1679, whilst on August 21st 1865 another Mary Scotchbrook married John Wright at St. Pancras Old Church, London. Another variant spelling is Scotsbrook, Robert-Hardy Scotsbrook being recorded at Rotherhithe in 1810. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Scotchbourouge, which was dated November 11th 1627, a witness at the Church of St. Katherines by the Tower, London, during the reign of King Charles 1, known as "The Martyr", 1625 - 1649. 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.