Catterick

This most interesting surname is of English locational origin from "Catterick", a parish and village near Richmond, on the river Swale in North Yorkshire. The placename was recorded "Katouraktonion" in the year 150 in "Clandii Ptolemaei Geographia", one of the earliest recording of an English placename, and appeared as "Cartrice" in the Domesday Book of 1086. It was probably composed of the Latin word "Catracta", meaning "waterfall". There is also a place called "Catterick Force" which is a waterfall near Settle, in Yorkshire. The Yorkshire Church Registers record the following early entries of the name: the marriage of Margery Catterick to Roger Meynell at St. John, Stanwick in 1560; and Robertus, son of Thomas Cattrick was christened at Brompton by Northallerton on May 30th 1602. In "London Church Registers", the name first appeared on November 9th, 1552 when Elizabeth Katrocke married John Hemming at St. Margaret's, Westminster. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Margery Catterick, which was dated 1536, St. John, Stanwick, Yorkshire, during the reign of King Henry V111, "Good King Hal", 1590 - 1547. 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.