This interesting name has two possible origins, the first of which is Anglo-Saxon, and forms either a metonymic occupational surname for a grower or seller of pears, or a topographical name for someone who lived by a conspicuous pear tree or by a pear orchard. In this instance the name derives from the Old English pre 7th Century 'pere, peru', pear, itself derived from the Latin 'pirum', and which became 'pe(e)re' in Middle English. The second possible source for the modern surname, found as Pear, Peare, Pere, Peer and Peear, is from the Medieval English 'nickname' surname for a companion, peer, a 'match', derived from the Middle English 'pere', developed from the Old French 'per, peer', a peer, paragon, from the Latin 'par', equal. The marriage of one John Peare and Agnes Ashe was recorded at St. Botolph's, Bishopsgate, London, on February 25th 1592. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Osbert Pere, which was dated 1230, The Berkshire Pipe Rolls, during the reign of King Henry 111, 'The Frenchman', 1216-1272. 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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