This is a rare and interesting name of English origin, and is locational from Dorchester in Oxfordshire. The derivation is from the Olde English pre 7th Century "Dorn", an early name of Dorchester, from "durn", fist, probably referring to fist sized pebbles and "saete", dwellers. In the Middle Ages it became increasingly popular for people to migrate from their place of birth, to seek work elsewhere and they often adopted the placename as a means of identification, thus resulting in a wide dispersal of the names. Two recordings of marriages of namebearers in London are between one Jone Dossetter and John Beckabey on July 27th 1625 at St. Andrew by the Wardrobe, and between Mary Dossetter and Jarvis Gibson on October 27th 1827 at Old Church, St. Pancras. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert de Dorkecestre, which was dated 1297, in the "Ministers Accounts, Cornwall", during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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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