Blest

This interesting surname of English origin is a nickname for a fortunate individual, deriving from the Middle English "(i)blescede", "blissed" meaning "blessed" (from the Old English pre 7th Century "blestian" "to bless"). The surname dates back to the late 13th Century, (see below). Further recordings include John le Blessed (1327) "The Subsidy Rolls of Staffordshire", John le Blest (1332), "The Subsidy Rolls of Sussex", and Thomas Blesset (1380), "The Subsidy Rolls of Staffordshire". Variations in the idiom of the spelling include Blessed, Blissett, etc.. Edward Blest married Ann Potts at St. James, Dukes Place, London, on May 25th 1679, and John Blest married Joyce Allen also at St. James, Dukes Place, London, on May 9th 1682. Thomas Blest married Sarah Rowley at St. Antholin, Budge Row, London, on January 31st 1724, and Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas and Sarah Blest, was christened on January 4th 1726, at St. Anne Soho, Westminster. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Alicia Iblessed, which was dated 1297, The Ministers Accounts of the Earldom of Cornwall, during the reign of King Edward 1, "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.