Dashper

This very unusual surname found as Daspar and Dashper, is quite well recorded in England from the early 18th century. As this date is far too late from the creation of a new surname, and as the name in its current spelling has no apparent meaning or origin or is found in any of the known languages of Europe, then it is almost certainly a transposition or fusing of some other name. Our opinion is that it is French, locational, and probably a form of the surnames Despaux or Desport, which as Despor, Despard, and Dispere, have been recorded in England since Elizabethan times. These "names" were originally brought to England by Protestant refugeees known as "Huguenots" fleeing from the persecution by the Catholics in various parts of Europe, but particularly France where religious mania under Louis X1V (1643 - 1715) reached its height in about 1680. It is estimated that over fifty thousand refugees, in the main skilled workers, came to Britain, their skills being the "engine room" of the later Industrial Revolution. Spelling being at best indifferent, coupled with the English dislike of foreigners, produced many "sounds like" spellings, of which we believe that this is one. Early examples of the recordings include Newt Dashper, whose son James, was christened at St Katherines by the Tower (of London) on August 23rd 1732, and Elizabeth Dashpar, the daughter of Hextor Dashpar, christened at St Georges, Stepney, on January 6th 1735.