Bellworthy

This was originally a Devon locational name which derives from the village of Bulkworthy and recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Buchesworde" and later in 1228 as "Bulkewurthi". The name translates as "The resident at Bulca's Farm", the origin being pre 9th Century Viking (Norse). The name development has passed through a succession of dialectual changes. The recordings include Elizabeth Bulliworth (1709, London), George Bullworthy who married Elizabeth Cartwright at Christchurch, Spitalfields, in 1743 and John Bellworthy who married Mary Haynes at St. Martins in the Field, Westminster on January 10th 1813. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of George Bullworth, which was dated 1591, Married Katherine Kelly at St. Mary Mountlaw, London, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Good Queen Bess, 1558 - 1603. 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.