The surname of ALDUS was a baptismal name ' the son of Aldus '. Norfolk has been a long established home for this name, both in fontal and patronymic character. The name was brought into England in the wake of the Norman Conquest and appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as AILRED. Early records also mention Radulphus filius Alduse, documented in Yorkshire in the year 1168. William filius Alduse, 1273 County Nottingham. Aldusa filia Cristine was recorded in Yorkshire in 1219. Alan Haldehous of Yorkshire, was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379. Walter Aldous was rector of Wrenhingham, County Norfolk in the year 1393. Francis Aldhowse was recorded in Yorkshire in 1647. William Guntripp and Mary Audass were married at St. George's, Hanover Square, London in the year 1799. Surnames as we know them today were first assumed in Europe from the 11th to the 15th century. They were not in use in England or in Scotland before the Norman Conquest of 1066, and were first found in the Domesday Book of 1086. During the Middle Ages, when people were unable to read or write, signs were needed for all visual identification. For several centuries city streets in Britain were filled with signs of all kinds, public houses, tradesmen and even private householders found them necessary. This was an age when there were no numbered houses, and an address was a descriptive phrase that made use of a convenient landmark. At this time, coats of arms came into being, for the practical reason that men went into battle heavily armed and were difficult to recognise. It became the custom for them to adorn their helmets with distinctive crests, and to paint their shields with animals and the like. Coats of arms accompanied the development of surnames, becoming hereditary in the same way. The associated arms are recorded in Sir Bernard Burkes General Armory. Ulster King of Arms in 1884.