Fleckney

This is an English locational surname. It originates from the village of Fleckney in Leicestershire, a village which is recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book as 'Flechnaia'. The translation is uncertain, but the suggestion in the 'Dictionary of English Place Names' is that is derives from the Olde English pre 7th century word 'flecha' meaning 'a hurdle', plus 'leah' - an enclosure. This would imply either a place where the residents manufactured hurdles and fencing, or a fenced farm, either being quite logical. What is also subject to conjecture is the development of the surname itself. The first recordings seem to be mid 17th century in London, which is long after the usual formation of surnames, furthermore the name is barely recorded in Leicestershire at all. This suggests that around the time of the English Civil Wars (1640 - 1660), the village was 'cleared' to allow for sheep farming, and the villagers forced off their lands. They then moved to London where they were given (as new surnames) the name of their former village as easy identification. These early recordings include John Fleckney and his wife Elizabeth, nee Dumville, whose daughter Hannah was christened at the church of St Nicholas Olave, on November 18th 1716, and William Fleckney, who married Jane Nicholson at St Lawrence Pountney on March 21st 1763. Other recordings include Jane Fleckney who married William Moore at St Margarets church, Leicester, on August 31st 1828, and John Fleckney, who married Jemima Elizabeth Forrest, at St Leonards, Shoreditch, on June 10th 1838. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Samuel Fleckney, which was dated February 2nd 1679, married at St Mary-le-Bone, London, during the reign of King Charles 11, known as 'The Merry Monarch', 1660 - 1685. 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.