Tregust

Recorded in the spellings of Treagus, Treagust, Tregose and Tregust, this is a Cornish habitational surname. It derives from the words "Tre" meaning a homestead, and a mutated form of "ker or ger" which translates as a hedged or fenced farm. Cornish names which have travelled from their homeland are very prone to transposition and this name is no exception, being found recorded as Tregoose (St. James Church, Clerkenwell, 1643), Trigoust (St. Martins in the Field, Westminster) in 1687, whilst John Treagose was christened at St. Leonards, Eastcheap in 1734 and on September 15th 1851 Elizabeth Treagus married Thomas Tidy at Greyfriars, Christchurch, London on the 15th September. The first recorded spelling of the family name in the surviving church registers is bel;ieved to be that of Edwarde Traygos, who married Margery Haselwood at St. Giles Cripplegate, in the city of London, in 1603. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced central taxation. In England this was sometimes known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries surnames in every country have continued to "develop", often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.