This most interesting surname derives from a number of possible origins. Firstly, it may be a topographical name for a person who lived at a place where wild roses grew. It may also have been given to a "dweller in a house bearing the sign of the rose i.e., "an Inn". It is also found, especially in Europe, as a nickname for a man of "rosy" complexion. In each of these instances the surname derives from the Middle English and Old French "rose" or the Germanic female personal name "Rose", "Royse", which was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Rothais" and is composed of the elements "hrod", renown plus "haid(is)", king. Finally, the name may also have originated from the Yiddish female personal name "Royze", derived from the word for the flower. One Richard Roys appeared in the Subsidy Rolls of Suffolk in 1327. Interesting namebearers include Sir George Rose (1782 - 1873) who was appointed judge of the Court of Review and knighted in 1831; he also became first chairman of the Law Life Insurance Society in 1844. Hugh Henry Rose (Baron Strathnairn) in 1801 - 1885 who served in Syria, India and Ireland with the British army and was appointed Field-Marshal in 1877. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert Rose, which was dated 1302, in the "London Court Rolls Register", during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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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