This name is of Cornish locational origin from Ros(e)warne, an estate in the parish of Camborne in that county. The name derives from the Breton "ros" meaning a hill(ock), usually one where heather grows, plus the Anglo-Norman French "warrene", a piece of land for breeding game. It is also possible that the first element is the Cornish "ros", a moor, hence, "moor on which game was hunted". The surname is particularly well recorded in Cornish Church Registers from the mid 16th Century, (see below), under the variant spellings Roswarne, Roswarn and Rosewarne. On November 30th 1544, Anne Roswarn and John Thomas were married in Camborne, and on March 14th 1587, Alice, daughter of Thomas Rosewarne, was christened in St. Michael's, Penkivel, Cornwall. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Battrix Roswarne married John Glasan, which was dated November 16th 1543 in Camborne, Cornwall, during the reign of King Henry V111, known as "Bluff King Hal", 1509 - 1547. 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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