Face

Recorded as Face and Facer, this unusual and interesting surname is English. It is usually of medieval origins, and it is claimed, was formerly job descriptive for a specialist stone mason, one who literally put the finished "face" on stone work. Medieval fortresses and city walls had deliberately smooth faces to prevent missiles from sticking, and generally making it more difficult to storm the walls, the Faces or Facers were responsible for this finish. In the region known as Kent-Sussex a special language existed for many centuries, and a particular habit was that of adding "-er" to existing names. This also to be found in surnames such as Brooker (a worker by the brook), or Hiller, one who lived on a hill. It is also a possibility that some modern name holders the derivation is from a personal nickname based upon the word "face". Early examples of the surname recording include Ernest Face recorded in the city of London on June 23rd 1577, whilst Mary Facer married Salathyell Lovewell at St. Bride's, Fleet Street, also in the city of London, on May 5th 1659. This was interestingly during the 'reign' of Richard Cromwell, known as "The Lord Protector", 1658 - 1659. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was also known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.