This interesting surname is of early medieval English origin, and derives from the Middle English "bos(e)", cattle stall (from the Olde English pre 7th Century "bosig"). It would have been a topographical name for someone who lived by a cattle stall. Topographical surnames were among the earliest created, since both natural and man-made features in the landscape provided easily recognisable distinguishing names in the small communities of the Middle Ages. In some instances the surname was an occupational name for a cow-herd. Job descriptive surnames originally denoted the actual occupation of the namebearer, and later became hereditary. The surname may also be a locational name from "Balhousie" in Fife, Scotland. The placename was recorded earlier as "Balwolsy", and derives from the Gaelic "baile a'choille", farmstead of the wood. Locational names were originally given as a means of identification to those who left their village or place of origin to settle elsewhere. The surname is first recorded in the early half of the 14th Century (see below) and can also be found as Boosie, Bousie and Bowsie. Sir John Bousie claimed the chaplaincy of the Trinity of Dysart in 1566. On June 26th 1612, Edward Boosey married Jane Bogasse at St. Giles', Cripplegate, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Bosy, which was dated 1327, in the "Subsidy Rolls of Essex", during the reign of King Edward 111, known as "The Father of the Navy", 1327 - 1377. 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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