This surname was a locational name 'of Bathorpe Bottoms' a spot in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The earliest of the name on record appears to be William de Baretop, who was recorded in the year 1200 in County Lancashire, and William de Barkentorp appears in Yorkshire in 1219. In the middle ages it was customary for a man to be named after the village where he held his land: this name identified his whole family and followed him wherever he moved. It could have been his place of birth, or the name of his land-holding. Walter Berthrop wa documented in 1327 in County Surrey, and John William Baltrip was recorded in 1341.
Local surnames, by far the largest group, derived from a place name where the man held land or from the place from which he had come, or where he actually lived. These local surnames were originally preceded by a preposition such as "de", "atte", "by" or "in". The names may derive from a manor held, from working in a religious dwelling or from literally living by a wood or marsh or by a stream. Batholomew Balthroppe of County Somerset was documented during the reign of Edward III (1327-1377) and Jonathan Barthorpe of Yorkshire, was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379.
Later instances of the name include John Hole and Hester Bartrap who were married in Canterbury in the year 1687, and Christopher Bathrop and Mary Hughes were married at St. George's, Hanover Square, London in 1766.
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