Connock

This very unusual name is of ancient British, pre-Roman, origin, and is a regional or locational surname deriving from either of the places called Cannock in Staffordshire or Conock, in Wiltshire near Devizes. Cannock in Staffordshire is recorded as "Canuc" in the Saxon Charters of 956, and as "Canoc" in the 1198 Fees Court Rolls of the county, while Conock in Wiltshire appears as "Kunek" in 1242 and as "Coneke" in 1316. Both places are named from the ancient British hill-name, "Cunuc", found also as the first element in the place called "Consett" in County Durham. The surname from this source has a number of forms, ranging from Cannock, Cannick, Connack, Conneck, Connock and Connick to the genitive forms, meaning "of" a place, Connicks, Connix and Connex. The surname is also recorded in Ireland, where it was introduced in the 16th century from England. Among the early surname recordings in church registers is the marriage of Nicholas Connick and Elizabeth Read, at St. Dunstans, Stepney, on July 26th 1590, and Anne, the daughter of John Connock, who, was christened at St Botolph's Church, Bishopgate on April 20th 1593. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of James Cannock, which was dated May 3rd 1560, christened at Bodmin, Cornwall, 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.