Recorded as Rushmer, Rushmar, Rushmare, Rushmere, and possibly others, this is an English surname. It is locational from either of two places in the county of Suffolk called Rushmere. One is near the town of Lowestoft, and the other Ipswich. The former, recorded as Riscemara and Ryscemara in the Domesday Book of 1086, was named from the Old English pre 7th century word "risc" meaning rushes, plus "mere", a lake. The latter, appearing as Risce and Ryscemara in the Domesday Book, is named for on the same elements, but the first is partly the adjective "riscen", meaning rushy. The surname was first recorded in the latter part of the 13th Century, (see below). Early examples of surname recordings taken from surviving church registers of Suffolk and Norfolk include the marriage of Robart Rushmer to Margaret Bery at Homersfield, Suffolk, on November 2nd 1561; the christening of Thomas Rushmar, at St. Peter Southgate, Norwich, on June 29th 1589, and the marriage of Margaret Rushmere to Robert Skerlet at Bergh Apton, Norfolk, in 1593. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William de Rushmara, which was dated 1272, in the Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire, during the reign of King Henry 11nd of England, 1216 - 1272. 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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