The Anglo-Saxon name Custance comes from the baptismal name which means Custance. Alternatively the name could have been a local name for someone from Coutance, a location name in Normandy. [1]
The surname Custance was first found in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 as both a forename and surname: Constance, or Custance de Byerne, Nottinghamshire; John Custaunce, Cambridgeshire; Henry filius Custance, Cambridgeshire; and Custance Burnard, Cambridgeshire.
Later the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 continued this tradition with: Custance de Bergh; and Adam Custanson. "The last two instances entered together are probably mother and son. " [2]
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Custance research. Another 55 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1273, 1379, 1629, 1801, 1650, 1669, 1881 and 1904 are included under the topic Early Custance History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
One relatively recent invention that did much to standardize English spelling was the printing press. However, before its invention even the most literate people recorded their names according to sound rather than spelling. The spelling variations under which the name Custance has appeared include Custerson, Custer, Custance, Constance, Custeson and others.
Notables of the family at this time include Sir Roger Cuttance ( fl. 1650-1669), an English Captain in the navy, a native of Weymouth, Dorset. [3]
Hambleton Custance, was a Lieutenant-Colonel...
Another 29 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Custance Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
At this time, the shores of the New World beckoned many English families that felt that the social climate in England was oppressive and lacked opportunity for change. Thousands left England at great expense in ships that were overcrowded and full of disease. A great portion of these settlers never survived the journey and even a greater number arrived sick, starving, and without a penny. The survivors, however, were often greeted with greater opportunity than they could have experienced back home. These English settlers made significant contributions to those colonies that would eventually become the United States and Canada. An examination of early immigration records and passenger ship lists revealed that people bearing the name Custance arrived in North America very early: Peter Cussens, who settled in America in 1662; Leonard Cussens, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1725; Emanuel Custer, who came to Maryland in 1811; James Custer, who settled in New York in 1832.