Strowger

An interesting and unusual name of English origin, Strowger is a dialectal variant of Strumanger, which is an occupational name for a dealer in straw, literally a Straw manager. The derivation is from the Old English 7th Century "Streaw", straw, and "mangere" a dealer. In the modern idiom, the variants are Strouger and Strauminger. In Medieval times this would have ben an important occupation in its own right but is now incorporated in general farming, hance the scarcity of the name. One Samuel Strowger the infant son of Thomas and Susan Strowger was christened on January 15th 1745 at St. George in the East, Stepney, and George Strowger married Catherine Fox on April 6th 1790 at St. George, Hanover Square London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Thomas le Strumonger, which was dated 1285, Oseney Records, Oxford, during the reign of King Edward I, "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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.