Bushrod

This rare and interesting name is of Medieval English origin and is locational from a so called 'lost' village, likely to have been situated in Dorset, which is suggested by the fact that there are early recordings in this country, and the heraldic arms of the Bushrudd family of Dorset are listed in Burke's General Armory. The coat of arms consist of a silver shield bisected by a horizontal red band with two black battle-axes in the top half and one in the lower. Bushrod derives from the Old English 'bysc', a bushy thicket, with 'rod', a clearing in a forest. Amongst the sample recordings in London is the christening of Mary Bushrod, the infant daughter of John and Katherine Bushrod on April 28th 1641, at St. Nicholas, Cole Abbey, and Mary Bushrod on November 10th 1656 at AllSaints, Dorchester, Dorset. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Bushrod, which was dated 1626, Sherborne, Dorset, during the reign of King Charles 1, 'The Martyr', 1625-1649. 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.