Besemer

Generally recorded in the spelling forms of Besemer and more rarely, Bezemer (Germany), and in England as Bessemer, this name is an example of an early British form being "exported" to Germany. The derivation is from the Olde English pre 6th Century "besema", translating as "besom", the modern meaning being "broom", the surname is job-descriptive for a maker of brushes and brooms. This apparently humble, although important, origin does not seem to have been any bar to entry into the nobility in Germany (see below), where a Coat of Arms was granted to both Besemer and Bezemer, the curious fact being that the "Arms" are essentially the same. These are a gold field, charged with five black lozenges, three in chief, two in base. Those for Besemer being slightly larger. The name recordings in England are even earlier: Ingulf Besmere being registered in Hampshire in 1148, and William Besemere in Oxford in 1279. In Germany, on March 9th 1573, Hans Bessamer married Ana Von Karben at Frankfurt au Main, whilst Johanis Besemeyere was a witness at Plalz, on May 14th 1721, a further form of the name, Johann Pieter Bezemer was christened at Meisenheim, Rheinland, on March 18th 1776, whilst earlier in America, Johannes Christian Besemer was christened at Loonenburg, New York, on October 15th 1754. This was twenty years before Independence, in the reign of George 11. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Johannes der Besemer, which was dated 1323, recorded on the "Land Charters of Esslingen", Wurtenbury, Germany, during the reign of Frederick of Habsburg, 1314 - 1325. 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.