Crickmer

This interesting and unusual English surname with variant spellings Crichmer, Crickmoor, Crickmer etc is of English locational origin from one of the estimated seven to ten thousand villages and hamlets that have now disappeared from maps in Britain. The prime cause of these "disappearances" was the enforced "clearing" and dispersal of the former inhabitants to make way for sheep pastures at the height of the wool trade in the 14th Century. Natural causes such as the Black Death of 1348, also contributed to the lost village phenomenon. The original place may have been located in Suffolk as the church records of the County show the name to be prominent in that area. The placename itself contains the Old British elements "cruc", a hill (pre-Roman), plus the second element "Mor", a moor or "mere", a lake. Hence the place may have been a hill by a moor or lake. At Syleham in Suffolk, Johanna Crickmer married Robert Kyss on June 12th 1542, while here also, Johanna, daughter Alicia was christened on May 28th, 1553. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Cecilia Crakemore, which was dated 1379, in the "Poll Tax records of Yorkshire", during the reign of King Richard 11, known as "Richard of Bordeaux", 1377 - 1399. 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.