Penzer

This interesting and unusual name is English and is an occupational name for an Official in charge of weights and measures. This particular duty would have been to weigh any rent or tribute received and therefore, his position was an important and responsible one. The derivation is from the Anglo-Norman French words "peiser" or "poiser", meaning "the weigher", from the latin "pensarius". In the modern idiom there are a variety of spellings of the surname, ranging from "Poyser, Poyzer and Poizer" to "Peyzer and Penzer". The marriage of "Johan (Joan) Poizer" and "Nicholas Couchman" is recorded as taking place on the 11th October 1562, at the church of St. Mary at Mill, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Simon le Peser. which was dated 1198, in the "Kent Pipe Rolls". during the reign of King Richard 1, known as "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.