This interesting name is of English topographical origin from residence by a paved road. The component elements of this name are Old English pre 7th Century "stan" meaning stone and "stroet" a paved (Roman) road. It is interesting to note that the Old Roman road from Chichester, (Sussex), to London was anciently called Stanistreet and the reference here may be to that road. The surname first appears on record in the latter part of the 13th Century. Other early recordings include Stephen de Stonstred registered in the Hundred Rolls of Berkshire, (1276); Elias de Stonstrete, witness, Fine Court Rolls of Essex, (1279), and Richard atte Stanstrete, Sussex (1293). On November 28th 1582, George Stonestreet married Mary Hape in St. Botolph's, Bishopsgate, London and on March 3rd 1639, Eliz Stonestreet married Stephen Holman in Playden, Sussex. Other variant spellings are Stanistreet and Stanistrete. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Salomon de Stonstrete, which was dated 1273, The Hundred Rolls of Kent, during the reign of King Edward 1, "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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