Recorded as House, Howse, Hoose, Housaman, and Houseman, this unusual and interesting name is English. It was an occupational surname for someone employed at, or who had some connection with, the largest and most important building in the settlement. This may have been the local "great house" of a nobleman or the landowner, or a religious house, a monastery or convent. Job-descriptive surnames originally denoted the actual occupation of the namebearer, and later became hereditary. In some cases the name may have referred to a "householder", someone who owned his own dwelling as opposed to being a tenant. In the Middle Ages most of the population lived in huts or cottages rather than houses. The derivation of the name is from the Olde English pre 7th Century "hus", house, and the surname was first recorded in the early 13th Century. Early examples of recordings include John Houseman of Colchester in Essex in the year 1365, whilst later recordings from London registers include the marriage of Amie House and Phillip Foster on November 19th 1594, at St. Benet Fink. The family Coat of Arms is a green shield with a silver cross, the Crest being two hands issuing from a cloud in chief, holding an anchor in the sea proper. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Simon Hus, which was dated 1226, in the "Eynsham Cartualry", Oxfordshire, during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.