This very unusual name is well recorded but the origins are obscure. It is generally regarded as having Olde English pre 7th Century origins and being topographical, translating as "the dweller by the brushwood" from "Risc" and "Rysc". This would give the same origin as the surname Rush as in John atte Rysh (1337, Sussex). However, the Certificate comes with the spelling as "Wrist" a name with the same sounding but not apparently recorded before 1807 and it may be that this is a shortened form of the Dutch "Vanderriste" first recorded in 1747 when Warder Vander Riste married Elizabeth Keill in London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Joseph Wrist. which was dated 1807 (Baptised) at St. Boltophs Church, London. during the reign of King George III, Farmer George, 1760 - 1820. 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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