This name derives from the Old French Nurice (Norrice). In medieval English the term nurse was applied to a wet-nurse or foster mother and it was also used as an occupational name for a person who attended sick people. Joan Nurys and Magota le Nuris are recorded in the Poll Tax of Yorkshire in 1379. Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Nurse was christened on December 31st 1671 at St. Giles Cripplegate in London. Elizabeth Hutchinson and Edward Nourse were married on May 3rd 1693 at St. Michael's Cornhill, London. Edward Nourse (1701 - 1761) practised surgery at St. Bartholomew's Hospital London where he demonstrated anatomy and published some of his lectures. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robertus La Norice, which was dated 1273 Hundred Rolls of Bedford, during the reign of King Edward I, "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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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