Fos History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Netherlands
England

Fos is a name of ancient Anglo-Saxon origin and comes from the family once having lived in Doultin and Shepton Mallet on either side of Fosse Way. The surname Fos is a topographic surname which literally means "ditch of a fortified place" 1 2 but two sources claim the name to mean "waterfall." 3 4

Anciently, the name could have been Norman as the Magni Rotuli Scaccarii Normanniae shows Geoffry, Hubert, Ralph, Richard, Stephen de Fossa, or De la Fosse of Normandy in 1198. 5

Early Origins of the Fos family

The surname Fos was first found in Sussex where John del Fosse was recorded in 1199. Later the Hundredorum Rolls of 1272 listed Roger de Fossa and Richard de la Fosse of England, but no counties were listed. 5

The Curia Regis Rolls include an entry for Richard atte Fosse, 1 Edward II (during the first year of the reign of King Edward II.) Later the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 listed Johannes Fosse and Willelmus de Fosse. 3

Over in Somerset, records there show: Richard de Fosse; Margery atte Fosse; and Robert atte Fosse. All were recorded 1 Edward III. 6

"In Somerset the surname is recorded from Doulting and Shepton Mallet, on each side of the Fosse Way, along which lie three farms named Fosse in Wiltshire, four in Warwickshire and two in Nottinghamshire." 7

Early History of the Fos family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Fos research. Another 112 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1284, 1327, 1379, 1787, 1804, 1811, 1814, 1822, 1830, 1837, 1839, 1840, 1844, 1850, 1853, 1865 and 1870 are included under the topic Early Fos History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Fos Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Fos family name include Foss, Fosse, Fos, Voss, Foose, Foos and others.

Early Notables of the Fos family

Notables of this surname at this time include:

Edward Foss (1787-1870), English biographer, eldest son of Edward Smith Foss, solicitor, of 36 Essex Street, Strand, London, by Anne, his wife, daughter of Dr...

Fos migration to the United States +

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Fos surname or a spelling variation of the name include:

Fos Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Ewd. Fos, who arrived in New York in 1832
Bernard Fos, who settled in America in 1838
Gerhard Fos, who settled in Missouri in 1840
Gerhard Fos, aged 27, who landed in Missouri in 1840 8
Johan Heinrich Fos, aged 34, who arrived in Missouri in 1840 8
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Arthur, William , An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. London: 1857. Print
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Smith, Eldson Coles, New Dictionary of American Family Names New York: Harper & Row, 1956. Print
The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
Dickinson, F.H., Kirby's Quest for Somerset of 16th of Edward the 3rd London: Harrison and Sons, Printers in Ordinary to Her Majesty, St, Martin's Lane, 1889. Print.
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)