It can be said with some confidence that this early surname is a patronymic short form of 'Bartholomew'. Few baptismal names were as popular in the medieval times as St Bartholomew and this gentleman gave his name to an incredible number of variant or pure nickname (St Barts) spellings of his name. It has been suggested that 'Barson' could be a patronymic form of the Anglo-Saxon 'Bertrand', and this is possible, but most researchers are agreed that the more likely origin is a Norman or Crusader introduction, which must be 'Bartholomew'. The name actually means 'the farmer or ploughman' one abounding in furrows, from the ancient hebrew. The first recording shown below is 14th century, the later church recordings include Anne Barson who married John Reede at St Sepulchre Church, london, on June 25th 1581, and Thomas Barsam, christened at the famous church of St Martins in the Field, Westminster, on October 25th 1617. A further recording is that of William George Barson, christened at St Giles Church, Camberwell, on December 27th 1818, in the reign of King George 111 (1760 - 1820).The coat of arms has the blazon of per pale gold and red, a gold chief, the crest is a garb. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Hugo Bertson, which was dated 1332, in the Hundred Rolls of Cumberland, during the reign of King Edward 111, known as 'The father of the English navy', 1327 - 1377. 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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