Catherick

This rare and interesting name is of English origin and is a dialectal variant spelling of Catterick, from places so called in North Yorkshire and Durham. Catterick in Yorkshire, appears as 'Katouraktonion', circa 150, and is one of the earliest recorded placenames in Britain, the following spellings 'Cateracta', and 'Cateractone' circa 730 are derived from the Latin 'Cataracta', a waterfall, but was recorded later, changed by the Britons, as 'Cetrehtton' circa 890 and as 'Catrice' in the Domesday Book of 1086, deriving from the Old British pre Roman word 'catu', war. The place in Durham is thought to have been named from Catterick in Yorkshire. Amongst the sample recordings in Yorkshire is the christening of Elizabeth Catherick at Brompton by Northallerton, on May 25th 1764, and in Durham the marriage of Francis Catherick and Lydia Robinson on January 30th 1739 at Elton. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Catherick (christening), which was dated September 3rd 1585, Long Newton, Durham, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, 'Good Queen Bess', 1558-1603. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.