Dewick

Recorded in several forms including Dewick, Dewicke, and Duewick, this is an English surname. It was probably locational and originally described a person who came from a hamlet or village called Dewic or similar, although no such place now appears in any known gazetter of the past three hundred years. The name has a slightly French appearance through the use of the fused preposition "de", but this was a normal expression during the three hundred years that French was the official language of England, following the Invasion of 1066. The second element was originally "wic", a pre 7th century Olde English word for a farm, and more specifically a dairy farm. Locational surnames were usually "from" names. That is to say they were names given to people after they left their original homes to move elsewhere often in search of work. It was then, and it often remains so today, that one of the easiest ways to identify a stranger was to call him or sometimes her, by the name of the place from whence they came. As to where Dewic was situated we do not know, but the surname is well recorded in the diocese of Greater London from the begining of the 17th century. These recordings include James Dewicke, who married Catheren Adams at St Giles Cripplegate, on October 1st 1603, Richard Dewick, the son of Thomas Dewick, christened at St Sepulchre church on June 28th 1729, and Willam Dewick, the son of Joshua and Mary Dewick, christened at St Giles Cripplegate on August 12th 1804.