Surname Change

[oreen]

I have , probably 5/6 th hand some text copied from a family bible. It is a 'family belief' that we are somehow connected to Col. Thomas Blood.  so in the bible  there is a Richard Blood born Tamworth 26th June or may  changed his name to Richard Heath   Married Ann Heath born at Atterton 30th Sept. 1774  they were married 9th March 1802 at Witherly?  how does one verify that Richard changed his name? Was it necessary to make name changes official? where may I find this kind of information? 

[linell]

I doubt there is any documentation oreen, it was quite common for people to change their names, you could call yourself what you liked.  You could try looking at the Land Tax Register for Tamworth, that starts about 1771, see whether he was Blood or Heath on there.  Linell.