Chadwick

This interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational name from any of the places thus called. Chadwick in Lancashire and Worcestershire were recorded as "Chaddewyk" in the Coucher Book of Whalley Abbey (1180), and as "Cheddewic" in the 1182 Placenames of Worcestershire respectively. Both placenames share the same meaning and derivation, which is the Olde English pre 7th Century personal name "Ceadda", with "wic", dairy farm; hence "Ceadda's dairy farm". Ceadda is the name of an Anglo-Saxon bishop, St. Chad. Chadwick in Worcestershire, recorded as "Celdvic" in the Domesday Book of 1086, and Chadwick in Warwickshire, recorded as "Chadeleswiz" in the 1242 Book of Fees, have the Olde English personal name "Ceadel" as their first element; hence "Ceadel's dairy farm". Locational surnames were developed when former inhabitants of a place moved to another area, usually to seek work, and were best identified by the name of their birthplace. The surname is first recorded in the early half of the 13th Century (see below), and has many variant spellings ranging from Chadwyck, Chaddock and Shaddick to Shaddock and Shadwick. Andrew de Chadewyke is listed in the Chartulary of Whalley Abbey (1328). On October 24th 1585, John Chadwick married Joan Dimock at St. Dunstan's in the East, London, and Richard, son of John Chadwick, was christened in the same place on October 13th 1588. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard de Chadeleswic, which was dated 1221, witness in the "Assize Court Rolls of Warwickshire", during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. 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.