Burchmore

This uncommon name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a variant form of the locational surname deriving from either of the two places called Birchmoor, one in Bedfordshire, in the Ampthill rural district, and the other in Warwickshire, near Tamworth. The placenames share the same meaning and derivation, which is "moorland where birch trees grew", from the Olde English pre 7th Century "birce", birch (tree), with "mor", moor, waste upland, fen. Locational surnames, such as this, were acquired by the lord of the manor, and local landowners, and especially by those former inhabitants of a place who had moved to another area, usually in search of work, and who were thereafter best identified by the name of their birthplace. The modern surname forms deriving from the placename are Birchmoor, Birchmore, Burchmoor and Burchmore, and examples from Church Registers include: the marriage of Richard Burchmore and Joan Marsh in Caddington, Bedfordshire, on October 30th 1580; the christening of Anne Birchemore on January 15th 1603, in Solihull, Warwickshire; and the marriage of William Burchmore and Margaret Turner at St. James', Duke's Place, London, on August 6th 1691. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Birchmore, which was dated June 2nd 1560, witness at the christening of his son, Richard, at Aldenham, Hertfordshire, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, known as "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.