This interesting name is of Cornish locational origin form a place in St. Agnes parish now called Trewartha but formerly known as Andrewartha. The name derives from the Celtic definite article 'an', 'the', plus 'dre', a voiced form of 'tre', a village, and '(w)artha', higher, hence, the higher village or settlement. The surname from this source is particularly well reocrded in Cornish church registers from the early 17th Century, (see below). On February 5th 1633 Barbara, daughter of John Andrewartha, was christened in Gwithian and on October 26th 1822 Charles Anderwartha and Sarah Locket were married in Redruth, Cornwall. The name doesn't appear in London church registers until the mid 19th Century. On November 15th 1868 the marriage of James Henry Andrewartha and Emma Masters was recorded in St. Pancras old Church, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Elnor Andrewartha married Thomas Michell, which was dated July 26th 1631 in Phillack, Cornwall, during the reign of King Charles I, 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.

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