Furse is a

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

surname as well as one of several names for the evergreen shrub more widely known as

gorse ''Ulex'' (commonly known as gorse, furze, or whin) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. The genus comprises about 20 species of thorny evergreen shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. The species are n ...

. The name is believed to be derived from

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

: ''fyrse'' (meaning "gorse"). The name is often compared to that of ''Furze'' that is also found in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

. The first recorded Furse appears in the South-west circuit of the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

(known as the

Exon Domesday The ''Liber Exoniensis'' or ''Exon Domesday'' is the oldest of the three manuscripts originating with the Domesday Survey of 1086, covering south-west England. It contains a variety of administrative materials concerning the counties of Cornwa ...

) as Robert Furse.

Some notable people named Furse

Charles Wellington Furse Charles Wellington Furse (13 January 1868 – 16 October 1904) was an English painter. He was born at Staines, the son of Jane Diana (Monsell) and the Rev. C. W. Furse, archdeacon of Westminster, and rector of St John's, Smith Square and de ...

(1868–1904), British painter; contributor to the New English Art Club. *

Clara Furse Dame Clara Hedwig Frances Furse Order of the British Empire, DBE () (born 16 September 1957) was the Chief Executive of the London Stock Exchange between January 2001 and May 2009, and was the first woman to occupy the position. In 2005, she was ...

(née Siemens), current

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the

London Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Pau ...

(LSE). *

Elizabeth Furse Elizabeth Furse (October 13, 1936 – April 18, 2021) was a Kenya Colony-born American small business owner and former faculty member of Portland State University. She was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 1999 ...

(1936–2021), former member of Congress, Oregon First Congressional District 1992-1999). * George Armand Furse (1834–1906), British Army officer, and author. * John H. Furse (1880–1907), American officer in the United States Navy * Judith Furse (1912–1974), British character actress. * Dame Katharine Furse (GBE) (1875–1952), Director of the WRENS (1917-1919). * Patrick John Dolignon Furse (1918–2005), British artist/tutor in enamelling department (1959–83) at the London Central School of Art and Design. * Roger Kemble Furse (1903–1972), British film set/scene designer. Married to

Margaret Furse Margaret Furse (born Alice Margaret Watts, 18 February 1911 – 8 July 1974) was an English costume designer. Personal life She was born to ''Punch'' magazine illustrator Arthur G. Watts and his wife, Phyllis Gordon Watts. She married ar ...

(née Watts).

The Furse family of Halsdon and Morshead

A notable family of the name Furse was resident on the estate of Halsdon in north

) from 1680 until the early 1980s,''Burke's Landed Gentry'', 18th edition, ed. Peter Townend (Burke's Peerage Limited - 1965), Furse of Halsdon - p. 295 having previously resided at Morshead. Visitations to the county of Devon (the 1531, 1564, & 1620 editions.) Conclusive proof of lineage of the Furses of Halsdon in parish records can only be established from the late 17th century, when Philip Furse (1650-1720) acquired Halsdon from a maternal uncle. Various records held by the

North Devon Record Office There are three county record office, local archives covering the Historic counties of England, historic county of Devon, England. The Devon Heritage Centre in Exeter is the main archive. It has a branch office, the North Devon Record Office in ...

show the expansion of the estate, including title deeds for land at

Alverdiscott Alverdiscott (pronounced ''Alscott'', or ) is a village, civil parish, former manor and former ecclesiastical parish in the Torridge district of Devon, England, centred south-south-west of Barnstaple. Demography A rural population – hav ...

, Ashreigny,

Beaford Beaford is a village and civil parish in the Torridge district of Devon, England. The village is about five miles south-east of Great Torrington, on the A3124 road towards Exeter. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 393, ...

, Bideford, Dolton, Fremington, Great Torrington, Hartland,

High Bickington High Bickington is a rural village and civil parish in the Torridge district of Devon, England. The village lies on the B3217 road, around east of Great Torrington, south-west of South Molton, and south of Barnstaple. At the 2011 Census, the ...

Poughill Poughill (pronounced "Pofil" or "Puffil") is a village in north-east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is located one mile north of Bude. History Poughill is mentioned in the Domesday Book as ''Pochehelle''. The name is of uncertain origin ...

St Giles in the Wood St Giles in the Wood is a village and civil parish in the Torridge district of Devon, England. The village lies about 2.5 miles east of the town of Great Torrington, and the parish, which had a population of 566 in 2001 compared with 623 in 1901 ...

, Weare Giffard,

Winkleigh Winkleigh is a civil parish and small village in Devon, England. It is part of the local government area of Torridge District Council. The population of the parish at the 2011 census was 1,305, compared to 1,079 in 1901. The population of the el ...

and Yarnscombe. The estate eventually became unsustainable, and was sold off during the 19th century, being finally broken up in 1983. The house is now owned by

Charlie Watts Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who achieved international fame as the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021. Originally trained as a graphic artist, Watts developed an i ...

, drummer of the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

, whose wife Shirley breeds

Arabian horse The Arabian or Arab horse ( ar, الحصان العربي , DIN 31635, DMG ''ḥiṣān ʿarabī'') is a horse breed, breed of horse that originated on the Arabian Peninsula. With a distinctive head shape and high tail carriage, the Arabian is ...

s on nearby land that was part of the estate throughout its history. The farms owned by the estate were sold to their tenants and remaining woodland donated to the Devon Wildlife Trust (Halsdon Nature Reserve). The estate was photographed in the late 1970s and early 1980s by James Ravilious.

References

{{surname, Furse History of Devon