This is a very interesting surname is of medieval European origins, as shown below. It is one whose history and origins date back to early Roman times at the very beginings of civilisation four hundred years before Christ. The derivation is from the Roman Latin word 'turris' meaning a castle or tower, and initially described the owner of such a place. In some instances it could be job descriptive from the English word 'tawyer' and describe a maker of white leather goods. Either way it is recorded in many surname spellings including Tuar, Tuer, Ture (English), Torres, Toures, La Tuer and Tur (English and French). Tures seems to be a rare American version probably dating from about 1850. How rare is shown by the fact that there are only 165 name holders in the USA today, and virtually none in the rest of the world. In recent research Tures ranked number 101,654 in the list of surnames of the United States. By comparison Smith is Number 1 with over three million registered holders. The United States is a well known source of 'new' surname spellings, particularly from the years 1820 to 1890 when some 15 million immigrants entered the country from all parts of Europe. Many of these immigrants could not read or write in any language. As a result when giving their name to an Immigration or port officials, the official who probably only spoke English, would enter the name as he thought it sounded. As a result creating a 'sounds like' form of spelling often far removed from the original spelling. Historically the earliest examples of recordings are from English records and include Elyass de Toure of the county of Somerset in the year 1202, whilst in 1260 William de le Tur appears in the tax rolls of the city of Cambridge. Later examples taken from church registers include Thomas Toures of Stepney, in the city of London, in the year 1614, and Joane Ture who married John Abrahams at St James church, Dukes place, Westminster, on April 27th 1667.

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