Found in the registers and Pipe Rolls recorded under the spellings of both Haysey and Heysey, this ancient name is of Old English habitational origins. It derives from "Haes" meaning a wood, and "eg" meaning an island and is probably of London (Thames) origins as the towns of Hayes in Middlesex and Kent have a similar background and origin area, that the modern surname is also from that locality. Research has however failed to establish a definitive spot and therefore the name must go down as one of the seven thousand plus surnames which derive from now "lost" locations. Recording examples include John Haysey who married Ursula Nison on June 25th 1563, also at St. Andrew's Church by the Wardrobe, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Joan Heysey, which was dated April 26th 1560 married James Ellesworth at St. Andrews by the Wardrobe, London, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, "Good Queen Bess", 1558 - 1603. 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.