Recorded as Banthorpe, Bainthorpe, Barthorpe, Barthrup, Barntrap, and others, this is an English locational surname, but one with a considerable pre 8th centuury Danish-Viking input. It originates from either a lost medieval village probably called 'Beorn-thorpe', meaning the farm of Beorn, and early personal name, or from the village of Barthorpe in the East Riding of Yorkshire, of probably the same meaning. If the latter is correct then the name development over the ages has included recordings such as that of William de Barkentorp of Yorkshire, in the year 1219, Bartholomew Barthroppe of Suffolk in 1567, and Hester Barntrap of Norwich, Norfolk, in 1687. Other examples of recordings include the christening of James Banthorpe at Felixtowe,Suffolk, on December 11th 1778, and the marriage of William Banthorpe and Alice Maud Sadd, on December 12th 1815, at St. Michael's church, Coslany, in the city of Norwich. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William de Baretorp. This was dated 1200, in the Pipe Rolls of Lincoln, during the reign of King John, known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as the Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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