This interesting surname of English origin derives from the Old English pre 7th Century "dust" meaning "dust", used to describe a person with a dust-coloured complexion or hair. Recordings include one Walter Dust (1203) "The Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire", and Robert le Doust (1316), witness, "The Feet of Fines, Kent". The term may also be used to describe a workman or a person with little worth. Recordings include one William Dustifot (1221) "The Assize Rolls of Worcestershire", and Thomas Dustiberd (1229), "The Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Somerset". Finally, it may also have an unexplained topographical term. One Richard del Doustes is recorded in "The Subsidy Rolls of Lancashire" in 1332. The surname dates back to the early 11th Century, (see below). Church records include one Roberte Duste who married Margery Heath at St. Giles Cripplegate, London, on September 3rd 1609, and Mary Dust married Francis Ffeild at St. Mary Whitechapel, London, on February 20th 1622. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ulf Dust, which was dated circa 1030, Old English Bynames, during the reign of Canute, "King of England", 1016 - 1035. 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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