Sturridge

This interesting and unique surname is a dialectal variant of "Stourbridge", an industrial town to the west of Birmingham, which was named after the river "stour", on tributary of the Severn, hence the place was a bridging point on the river, the name meaning "bridge over the river stour". The place name was recorded as "Sturburg" in the 1225 Assize Rolls of Worcestershire. Early recordings and variants of the surname include the following examples: Robert, son of William and Elizabeth Stirridge was christened at the church of St. Bartholomew the Great, London on July 15th 1627; On April 20th 1627, William Styrage married Rachel Hunt at Wolford, Warwickshire. On May 10th 1630, Maria Sturridge married Johes, Westminster, London while on March 5th 1642, Eleonara, daughter of Johis and Mariae Stirrage was christened at the same church. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Elizabeth Sturridge, which was dated May 8th 1625, christening records at St. Bartholomew the Great, London, during the reign of King James 1 of England and V1 of Scotland, 1603 - 1625. 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.