Amongst the original followers of William the Conqueror at the 1066 Invasion of England was William de Anesi, from the village called Anizy in Calvados, Normandy. This is thought to be derived from the Gallo-Roman personal name "Anitius" (of uncertain etymology), and the local suffix "-acum". William de Anesi was granted extensive land holdings in the English counties of Hampshire and Wiltshire, and his name is perpetuated in the village of Winterbourne Dauntsey. The Fees Rolls of Wiltshire in 1242 records that the village was held by Roger Dauntsey, although it seems that even by this date the name had developed several spellings, such as Dantesia, De Dantesie, De Andisie and Danesi, with Roger Danesi appearing in the Pipe Rolls of Kent in 1210. Other early recordings include: Peter de Dauntesy, of Berkshire in 1273, and Richard de Danesye in Wiltshire in the same period. An early settler in the New World Colonies was John Dancy, who was recorded in the Virginia Muster of 1621, in the company of George Sandis Esq. Recordings from London church registers include the marriage of John Danzey and Isabell Jones on March 22nd 1643, at St. Benet's, Paul's Wharf, and the christening of Winall, son of Robert and Elizabeth Dancey, on July 9th 1678, at St. Margaret's, Lothbury. A coat of arms associated with the surname has the blazon of per pale silver and gold, a fesse nebulee between three lions' heads erased red out of each mouth the head of a blue spear. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William de Anesi, which was dated 1086, in the Domesday Book of Wiltshire, during the reign of King William 1, known as "The Conqueror", 1066 - 1087. 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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