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Does anyone have any evidence of the Kershaw surname being of Jewish origins? It may have derived from the surname Kersh, Kerch or even Hersh Hirsh. Any info would be most welcome

Hi Chris, go to www.surnamedb.com My Mother was a Kershaw, her father married Hiom who where Jewish.
All the best Ronnie Sillett

Surname: Kershaw
This is an English habitation name from the village of Kirkshaw in the parish of Rochdale in Lancashire. The place name derives from the Old English pre 7th Century "kirk", church and "sceaga", "shaw" in Middle English meaning a copse or thicket. The surname would therefore denote someone who lived near the "church-wood". Locational names were usually bestowed on those who moved from their original habitation to live or work in another village or town. The spelling of the name varied from "Kyrkeschawe" in the 14th Century to "Kyrkshagh" in the 15th Century, before becoming Kershaw in the late 16th Century, and in general losing the second "k" of "kirk" from that time on. Examples of the recordings include John de Kyrkshagh of Townhouses, Rochdale in the year 1424, whilst in 1572 Edward Kershaw of Upper Townhouse, Rochdale is listed amongst the Wills proved at Chester in that year. The Coat of Arms is silver, the blazon, three cross crosslets in black, on a chief of blue, three bezants. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Adam de Kyrkeschawe, which was dated 1307, in the "Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield", during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307.