Struther

This interesting surname has two possible sources the first being that it is a topographical name for a person who lived by marshy ground overgrown with brushwood and is derived from the Olde English 'strod', the Middle English 'strother', meaning damp land. However it is also a locational name from any of the various places named with this element, for example 'Strother' in Northumberland, 'Struther' in Lanarkshire or Struthers in Fife, Scotland. Although this name is popular in Scotland, references point to an origin further south, perhaps from the place in Northumberland where the ancient family of Strothers were lords of the manor of Kirk-Newton in the barony of Wark-on-the-Tweed. Amongst the early recordings was that of Alexander Struthers who married Janet Strang on 12th August 1697 at Last Kilbride, Lanarkshire.A Coat of Arms was granted to a family at Calderbank, County Lanark in 1808 and has the blazon of a silver shield, three blue piles issuing from the base, in chief an eagles head erased proper between two black fleur-de-lis, denoting victory over the French. The Crest being a black martlet. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Strwtheris, witness, which was dated 1555, Glasgow, during the reign of Queen Mary of Scotland, 1542 - 1567. 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.