This most interesting and unusual surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a variant of Ticehurst, an English locational surname from a place so called in Sussex, near Wadhurst, which was recorded as "Tycheherst" in 1248, in the Sussex Assize Court Rolls, and as "Thichesherst" in 1263, in the Feet of Fines of Sussex. The placename means the "hurst or wooded hill of the kids", derives from the Olde English pre 7th Century "ticcen", kid goat, with "hyrst", a wood, hill or wooded hill. The initial element "ticcen" is also found in "Tichbourne" in Hampshire, which means "the kid's stream". The surname first appears in Church Registers in the mid 16th Century (see below), while one Thankfull Ticehurst married Susan Wood on May 15th 1562 at Burwash in Sussex. Other early examples of surname recordings include: the christening of Rachell, daughter of Jhon and Alys Tyerst, on March 21st 1563 at Ticehurst, Sussex; the christening of Mary, daughter of John Tyhurst, on July 6th 1617 at Warbleton in Sussex; and the marriage of John Tyhurst and Mary Best on August 17th 1704 at the Church of St. Dunstan's, Stepney, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Abell Tyerst, which was dated April 20th 1561, christened at Ticehurst in Sussex, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, known as "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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