This surprisingly rare surname is of Olde English and Anglo-Saxon pre 7th century origins. It is locational from the village of Longhirst in the county of Northumberland, or topographically from residence by a 'long wood'. The development is from the ancient phrase 'lang-hyrst', with the village of Longhirst being actually recorded as "Langherst" in the Curia Regis Rolls of King John during the years 1199 - 1204. In the period of history known as the Middle Ages, when migration for the purpose of job seeking was becoming more common, people often took their former village name as a means of identification. this resulted in a wide dispersal of the name. The surname is first recorded in the early half of the 13th century (see below), and can also be found as Langhurst. Early examples of the surname recording include Robert de Longehurst in the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex in 1332, whilst recordings from the early surviving church registers of the diocese of Greater London include the christening of Henry Longhurst, son of Henry and Elizabeth Longhurst, on June 12th 1695 at St. Dunstan's in the East, Stepney; and the marriage of Walter Longhurst and Martha Andrews on November 20th 1701 at St. Paul's, Covent Garden, in the city of Westminster. A coat of arms granted to the family has the blazon of a black shield charged with five silver bendlets, and overall a red chevron. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard de Langherst. This was dated 1221, in the Curia Regis rolls of Surrey, during the reign of King Henry 111rd of England, 1216 - 1272. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.