This unusual and interesting name is of French and German origin, and derives from the Old French "Roscelin", a personal name, or the Old German "Rouzelin", which is a diminutive form of the personal name "Rozzo". Rocelin was at an early period popular in Lincolnshire as a personal name and the surname is found extensively there. It is also thought that the name could be a dialectal variant of the locational name Roslyn, from the place so called in Edinburgh, but there is not much evidence to confirm this. In Lincolnshire on April 26th 1663 one, John Rosling was christened at Tallington, and one Clement Rosling was christened at Whaplode Drove on 15th January 1723. London Church Registers contain the following recordings: Henry Andrew, son of Peter and Sarah Rosling was christened on September 17th 1797 at St. George in the East, Stepney, and Peter Rosling married Susannah Holder on March 6th 1803 at St. Anne, Soho, Westminster. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Johanna Roscelin, which was dated 1273, Hundred Rolls, Lincolnshire, during the reign of King Edward 1st, "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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