Colkett

This interesting surname is a dialectal variant of the widespread locational name, Caldecote, from any of the various places so called in England, Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Northants and Warwickshire, to name but a few. They all share the same derivation, from the Olde English pre 7th century "calde", cold and "cot", cottage, or hut. The fact that there are so many places so called suggests that the name had some meaning as "a place of shelter for wayfarers" or possibly a hut or shelter for animals in an exposed position. The placename is first recorded in the Domesday Book variously as "Caldecote", "Caldecota" and "Caldanchota". There are over thirty variant spellings of the name in the modern idiom, including Caulkett, Caldicot and Colkett. On September 2nd 1830, William Caulkett married Mary Ann Hill in Isleworth, London and Edward Caulkett married Mary Ann Keene on November 7th 1840, in St. Pancras, Old Church, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Simon de Caldecot, which was dated 1195, in the "Cambridgeshire Pipe Rolls", during the reign of Richard 1, known as "The Lionheart" 1189 - 1199. 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.