Greenstreet - Name

This picturesque and intriguing name is of Medieval English origin and is locational from a so called 'lost' village, of which it is estimated, there are between seven and ten thousand that have disappeared form British maps. It is likely that Greenstreet was once to be found in the region of two minor places, Ospringe and Castling, near Faversham, in Kent, as all the earlier records are from either of these villages, and there is an abundance of places with their names ending with street in that area. The derivation is from the Old English pre 7th Century 'grene', green, with 'straet', a paved road, usually of Roman origin, which is highly probable, as the supposed location of Greenstreet lies between Canterbury and London. Amongst the sample recordings in Kent are the births of John Greenstreet in 1505 at Ospringe and of William Greenstreet at Eastling in 1582. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Bartholomewe de Grenestreet, which was dated 1257, Archeological Studies in Kent, during the reign of King Henry 111, 'The Frenchman', 1216-1272. 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.