This interesting surname originated from the Old Norse personal name "Asgautr" composed of the elements "as" meaning god plus the tribal name "Gaut". This was established in England before the Conquest, with the personal names Asgot, Ansgot, Angot and Osgot appearing in the Domesday Book of 1086, and was later reinforced by the Norman "Ansgot". Horsgood is the Anglo-Scandinavian "Osgod" with retention of the inorganic "H" so frequently prefixed by Norman Scribes. The surname is first recorded in the late 12th Century (see below). One, William Osegod, appears in the Curia Regis Rolls of Suffolk in 1213 and Robert Hosegod, is noted in the Hundred Rolls of Wiltshire in 1275. In the modern idiom, the surname has many variant spellings including Osgood, Hosegood, Hosgood, Horsegood, Angood, etc.. John, son of Thomas and Sarah Horsgood, was christened at July 30th 1721, at St. Mary Whitechapel, Stepney, London. On April 21st 1778, Elizabeth Horsgood married Richard Jones at St. Dunstan's, Stepney and on the same day, in the same place Mary Horsgood married William Bending. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Matilda Angot, which was dated 1198, in the Norfolk Feet of Fines, during the reign of King Richard 1st, known as "Richard the Lionheart", 1189 - 1199. 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.