Dacombe

This very interesting name is recorded heraldically for the Daccombe's of Croft Castle, Dorset and also the Daccombes of Stepleton, in Dorset, but seems originally to have been a Norfolk and Cumbrian name of Old English and (possibly) Viking origins. The name derives from 'Daecca' a pre 7th century tribal and personal name, plus at a later time, Combe or Cwm - meaning 'a valley or hollow' and it is also found as 'Dacre' in Northumberland and Yorkshire. A Coat of Arms was granted to the Daccombe family c. 1810 which was green charged with a silver dragon. One Solomon Dacombe an infant was christened in Saint Benet, Pauls Warf, London in 1675. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Alexander Dacke which was dated 1273 The Pipe Rolls of Norfolk during the reign of King Edward 1 the Hammer of the Scots 1272-1307 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.