Trewartha - Name

This village now called Trewartha in the Parish of St. Agnes, Cornwall, was formerly called Andrewartha, and both versions of the village name have produced surname spellings. In either case, the name means "The higher (wartha) homestead or Farm-Stead (Tre)", the derivation being from the Ancient Gaelic-Cornish "an dre" a version of "Tre". The name development includes Honor Andrewartha who was christened at Gwithian Church, Cornwall in 1630 and Thomasin Trewartha who married William Brown at Gwennap on the 5th of October 1723. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Philip Trewartha, which was dated 1591, christened at Gwithian, Cornwall, 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.