The surname of ABSHIRE was a baptismal name 'the son of Asser' an ancient personal name. The name is also spelt ASCHER, ASSER and ASHERY. Two tenants called AZOR are found in the Domesday Book of 1066. Many of the early names recorded in medieval documents denote noble families but many also indicate migration from the continent during, and in the wake of, the Norman invasion of 1066. There was a constant stream of merchants, workmen and others arriving in England during this time. In 1086 the Record of Great Inquisition of lands of England, their extent, value, ownership and liabilities was made by order of William The Conqueror. It is known as the Domesday book. Early records of the name also mention Asser (without surname) who was the canon of St. David's in the year 1202. John ap-Asser, 1218, ibid. Jordan Asser was documented in Northampton in the year 1273. William Asser was the rector of Aylmerton, County Norfolk, circa. 1300. Over the centuries, most people in Europe have accepted their surname as a fact of life, as irrevocable as an act of God, however much the individual may have liked or disliked the surname, they were stuck with it, and people rarely changed them by personal choice. A more common form of variation was in fact involuntary, when an official change was made, in other words, a clerical error. Among the humbler classes of European society, and especially among illiterate people, individuals were willing to accept the mistakes of officials, clerks and priests as officially bestowing a new version of their surname, just as they had meekly accepted the surname they had been born with. In North America, the linguistic problems confronting immigration officials at Ellis Island in the 19th century were legendary as a prolific source of Anglicization. Later instances of the name include Bradford Drury and Elizabeth Asser who were married at St. Dionis Backchurch, London in 1653. Thomas Asser and Ann Coventry were married at St. George's, Hanover Square, London, 1756.