Fitzackerley

This interesting surname is English and locational. It originates from Fazackerley, a village in the parish of Walton on the Hill, near Liverpool, in the county of Lancashire. The word is pre 7th Century, from 'faes' meaning a border or fringe, '-accer' a field, and '-leah', a clearing made suitable for agriculture. The literal translation is probably the farm on the edge of a field. The surname had already clearly emerged by the latter part of the thirteenth Century, (see below) and todays namebearers may trace their ancestry back to the Henry Fasakerlegh shown below. Under the influence of classical learning the surname was sometimes given an initial spelling imitation of the Greek, hence Phizackerley, a variant chiefly associated with the Furness district of North Lancashire. An early registration in Lancashire was Edward, the son of Edward Fazackerley who was christened at Altcar on June 1st 1677, whilst Richard Fitzackerley, the name being given a Norman-Irish slant (!), died at Liverpool on March 1st 1841. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Henry de Fasakerlegh. This was dated 1276, in the Assize Rolls for Lancashire, during the reign of King Edward 1st, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.