This is a Welsh patronymic formed from the fusion of the prefix "ap" meaning "son of", with the medieval male given name "Harry", which was the usual vernacular form of Henry, itself deriving from the Old German "Haimric, Henric", a compound of the elements "heim" meaning "home", plus "ric", rule. One Harry Hasket appears in the Pipe Rolls of Cambridgeshire, dated 1270, and a Harry de Kent is listed in the 1202 Subsidy Rolls of London. Richard Harry, appearing in 14th Century Records of Sheffield, Yorkshire, was the first recorded bearer of the surname. The Welsh patronymic ap Harry emerges at the beginning of the 15th Century (see below). Morres Parry and John Apharry are recorded in "Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the reign of Henry V111", dated 1527 - 1528. In 1541, John Ap-Harry was entered in the Oxford University Register. The variant forms A'Parry, Aperry and Harrye are recorded in the 1556 Registers of Ledbury, Herefordshire. Richard Parry, consecrated bishop, 1604, revised the Welsh translation of the bible, and John Parry (died 1782) edited, with Evan Williams, the earliest published collections of Welsh music. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John ap Harry, which was dated 1407, in the "Ancient Deeds Roll of Herefordshire", during the reign of King Henry 1V, known as "Henry of Bolingbroke", 1399 - 1413. 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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