This interesting surname of English origin with variant spellings Stodart, Stoddart, Stoddard, Studart, Studdert, Stiddard, Stutard, etc. is an occupational name for a breader or keeper or horses, deriving from the Old English pre 7th Century "stod" meaning "stud", or "stott" "an inferior kind of horse" plus "hierde" meaning "herdsman or keeper". The surname dates back to the late 13th Century, (see below). Further recordings include one John le Stothirde (1297), "The Subsidy Rolls of Yorkshire", and Thomas le Stothurd (1306), "The Assize Court Rolls of Staffordshire". The forms Stutard and Stuttard are particularly well recorded in church registers of Northumberland from the early 16th Century. On December 25th 1527, Martha Stutard, an infant, was christened in Keighley Green Wesleyan Methodist, Burnley, and on September 22nd 1584, Richard Stuttare and Alice Halsted were married in Burnley. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Stothard, which was dated 1279, in the Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire, 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.