Bettridge

This interesting and rare name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and derives from the Old English pre 7th Century male personal name "Beaduric", composed of the elements "beadu", battle, with "ric", power. The modern surname, which can be found in seven different forms, Betteridge, Bettridge, Beteriss, Battrick, Batrick, Badrick and Badrock, is very rare in independent use, partly because there were few Anglo-Saxon or native British (pre-Roman) names to survive the influence of the Normans after the Conquest of 1066. The original Olde English name is also found in two English placenames, Battersea in London, recorded as "Badoricesheah" in 695, and meaning "Beaduric's Island", and Bethersden in Kent, recorded as "Baedericesdaenne" in the Domesday Book of 1086, and meaning "Beaduric's (swine) pasture". One Agnes Betteridge was christened at St. Bride's, Fleet Street, London, on February 12th 1600. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert Baderich, which was dated 1275, in the "Worcestershire Subsidy Rolls", during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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.