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The ancient name of Goldsmorth finds its origins with the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. It comes from a name for a goldsmith, jeweler. The name denoted "one who made or sold gold articles, a jeweler, later a banker." 1 Early records may show the name in the Latin-French version "Aurifaber." 2
Early French revealed "Geoffry, Roger, William, Nicholas. Gerard Aurifaber (Goldsmith) of Normandy 1180-95, three more in 1198 in the Magni Rotuli Scaccarii Normanniae. 3
"The great value of the commodity in which the medieval goldsmith dealt rendered him a person of consequence. No less than three tenants-in-chief under the Conqueror arc entered in Domesday under the name of Aurifaber. One of these, Otto Aurifaber, held in Essex, and his descendants, under the surname of Fitz-Otho, appear to have been hereditary mint-masters to the crown for two centuries, becoming extinct in 1282. Kelham. The equivalent French Orfevre, and the German Goldschmid, are well-known surnames." 4
The surname Goldsmorth was first found in Norfolk where Roger Goldsmiz was listed in 1250. Thomas Goldsmith was listed in the Assize Rolls for Essex in 1255 and later John le Goldesmethe was listed in Devon in 1309. 5
The Hundredorum Rolls recorded the name in the Latin form: Geoffrey Aurifaber, Salop (Shropshire); and Walter Aurifaber, Oxfordshire. 2
Richard le Goldsmythe, was listed 1 Edward III (during the first year of King Edward III's reign) in Somerset. 6
The Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 listed Thomas Goldsmyth, goldsmyth, of Wakefield; Johannes filius Gallridi, goldsmyth; Hugo Goldsmyth; and Agnes Goldsmvche. 2
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Goldsmorth research. Another 91 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1426, 1427, 1453, 1472, 1481, 1488, 1494, 1613, 1629 and 1655 are included under the topic Early Goldsmorth History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
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 Goldsmorth family name include Goldsmith, Goldsmyth and others.
Distinguished members of the family include Francis Goldsmith (1613-1655), English translator of Grotius, born on 25 March 1613, son and heir of Francis Goldsmith of St. Giles's-in-the-Fields, Middlesex, and grandson of Sir Francis Goldsmith of Crayford, Kent. "He became a gentleman-commoner of...
Another 41 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Goldsmorth Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Another 34 words (2 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, the Canadas, 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 Goldsmorth surname or a spelling variation of the name include : Arthur Goldsmith who purchased land and settled in Virginia in 1618; William settled in Barbados in 1654; Richard, Lewis, Joseph, Henry and Morris all settled in Philadelphia between 1822 and 1878.