Fawcus

This interesting and unusual name is a dialectual variant of Fawkes, which itself is from the Norman given name "Fau(l)gues", originally a Germanic byname meaning "Falcon". Fawkes was still in use as a first name in the 17th Century. The derivation may also be from the Olde French "Faugue" with the same meaning. In the modern idiom, the variants include Fawkes, Faux, Falck, Falco, Falk, Falkous, Falkus, Faulk(e)s, Fake(s). Two recordings of the name found in London are as follows:- On 27th March 1703, Jane Fawcus married Richard Freeman at St. Matthew Friday St. London, also in London Gartrick Fawaus was christened on 3rd October 1716 at St. Dunstans, Stepney. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Thomas Falch, which was dated 1182, Pipe Rolls, Worcestershire, during the reign of King Henry II, 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.