Recorded in many forms including Plow, Plew, the patronymics Plews, Plowes, Plows, Plose, and others, this is an English surname. It has two distinct origins, each with its own history and derivation. Firstly, it may be of early medieval Welsh origin, and a form of the male given name ap Lewis, or the son of Lewis. This was an Anglo-Norman substitute for the Old Welsh name "Llywelyn", being a compound of the elements "llyw", meaning leader, and "eilyn", a likeness. Llywelyn ap Iorwerth (1173 - 1240), was the prince of Gwynedd, and Lewis Glyn Coth (flourished 1450 - 1486) was a noted medieval poet. Secondly the name can be occupational, and desceribe a maker of ploughs. Here the derivation is from the Olde English pre 7th century word "ploh", meaning a plough. Some early forms of the name contain the suffix "-man", and include: Robert Pleueman of Westmorland, 1223, and John Plosman of Yorkshire, in 1560. In the records of the battle of Banbury in 1469, Thomas ap Lewis was recorded as being amongst the slain. This during the reign of King Edward 1V, known as "The Self-Proclaimed King", 1461 - 1483. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as the 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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