Vost

There are some names for which there are known meanings but no records, and sometime the reverse. 'Vost' is one of the latter. It is reasonably well recorded from the mid-17th century, appears to be 'foreign' and yet none of the recordings in anyway suggest an origin from beyond the seas. Nor is the name apparently recorded in any European countries or the Huguenot records. However it is known that in the 15th century many Dutch engineers were brought into England to drain the Fenlands of East Anglia. Amongst those were a number called 'Voss', a nickname surname of great antiquity, and dating back to the 12th century. The name means 'The Fox' and was probably given to somebody who looked 'foxy' or more likely lived near an inn called 'The fox'. It is our unproven belief that 'Vost' is an anglicised version of 'Voss', although there could be other feasible explanations. What is certain is that the name is recorded in church records from the mid 17th century, and examples of these include John Vost who married Rebbecca Meesham at St Giles Cripplegate, London, on January 1st 1656, in the 'reign' of Oliver Cromwell, and later Elizabeth Vost, who married Henry Bleeden at the famous church of St Dunstans in the East, Stepney, on August 15th 1825. The first known name holder as shown below presumably had parents of extreme protestant persuasion. We know of no other similar recording under any surname. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Easter Vost, which was dated April 6th 1645, christened at St Botolphs, Bishopgate, 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.