This unusual and interesting name is of French locational origin, introduced into England in the form of "de Preaux" and Anglicized to Diprose, Deeprose and Diperaus. There are seven places called "Preaux" in Normandy alone, such as St. Michael de Preaux and Notre Dame de Preaux, so the name is likely to have been introduced first by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066. However, the recordings of the name suggest that it was re-introduced by the French Huguenot refugees fleeing religious persecution on the Continent in the late 16th and 17th Centuries as in the first recordings below. The French word "preaux" means "inner courtyard" or "covered yard". On June 22nd 1652, Elizabeth Diprose and John Wilson were married in Horsmonden, Kent, and on April 7th 1735, Thomas Diprose married Ann Pinson, in Ninfield, Sussex. The marriage of John Diprose to Elizabeth Henning took place at St. George's, Hanover Square, London, in 1769. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Elizabeth Diprose, (christening), which was dated March 20th 1548, Frant, Sussex, during the reign of Queen Mary, known as "Bloody Mary", 1553 - 1558. 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.