This unusual name has two possible origins, the first of which is locational, from the place called 'Bossall' in North Yorkshire. It is first recorded as 'Boscele' and 'Bosciale' in the Domesday Book of 1086, and means 'Botsige's haugh', from the old English pre 7th Century personal name 'Botsige', and 'halh', which in the north of England became 'haugh', a piece of flat alluvial land by the side of a river. The second possible origin for the name Bus(s)well is from the surname 'Bissell', a metonymic occupational name for a corn factor or merchant, one who measured corn. The derivation is from the Middle English 'busshell', meaning 'bushel', measure of corn. There are a number of variants of the name, including Busswell, Bissell, Biswell, Bishell, Boshell and Bushill'. Early recordings include Alan Buseel of Yorkshire in 1140, and Richard Bussell of Bedford in the year 1200. Church recordings include Thomas Bushell of London on July 3rd 1586, and Major George Bushell of Barbados on January 9th 1685. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Rodger Buissel. which was dated 1086, in the Domesday Book, Somerset. during the reign of King William 1, known as the Conqueror, 1066 - 1087. 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.

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