This unusual and interesting name is of English locational origin, from the place called 'Torver' in Lancashire. The place name is first recorded as 'Thoruergh' in 1190, and as 'Torvergh' in 1246, and means either the hut or shelter for storing peat, or turf, or 'the hut made of turf'. The derivation is from the Olde Norse word 'torf', meaning 'turf or peat', with the Olde English pre 7th Century 'erg, aergi', meaning a shieling, which can be a temporary shelter used by people tending cattle on high ground or a hut or shelter in some remote spot. The name can be found a 'Tarver, Turver and Torver' in the modern idiom, and is found most frequently in Lancashire. 'Richard', son of 'John Tarver', was christened on the 6th June 1618 in Lancaster. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Tarvar, married Sara Hardinge, which was dated 13th December 1593, St. Margaret's, Westminster, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Good Queen Bess, 1558 - 1603. 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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