Cressey

This interesting name is French in origin and it is most probable that it is locational, from Crecy in Picardy, the scene of the famous battle. However, it is also possible that it derives from the Provencal name "Cres" a topographic name for someone who lived on a patch of stony ground, from the Olde Provencal "cres" or "gres". In the case of locational names, people when moving from their place of origin often adopted the placename as a means of identification. The surname in several forms i.e Creas(e)y, Cressy, Creassey, is strongly represented now in Lincoln, Norfolk and Suffolk. The Transcripts of Charters relating to the Gilbertine Houses, record one Alexander de Crecy, circa 1182 while in 1185 the Records of the Knight Templars in England in the 12th Century list one Alexander de Cressi in Lancashire. The former source also mentions a Beatrix Cressy in Lancashire around this time. One Elizabeth Cressey was christened in St. Giles, Cripplegate, London in 1673. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Hugo de Creissi, which was dated 1171, in the "Pipe Rolls of Lancashire", during the reign of King Henry 11, known as "The Builder of Churches", 1154 - 1189. 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.