Follows

This interesting and uncommon name is a late variation of either of the surnames Fallow(s) or Fellow(s), which have themselves been considerably confused. They are both of Anglo-Saxon origin; Fallow(s) is a topographical surname for someone who lived by a patch of fallow land, derived from the Olde English pre 7th Century word "fealh", in Middle English (1200 - 1500) "falwe", fallow. Topographical surnames were among the earliest created, since both natural and man-made features in the landscape provided easily recognisable distinguishing names in the small communities of the Middle Ages. The word was used to mean land left uncultivated for some time to recover its fertility, and of land recently brought into cultivation. The names Fellow, Fellows and Fellowes, where the plural forms are patronymics, meaning "son of", are derived from the Olde English "feolaga", Middle English "felagh, felaw", a partner or shareholder, and later in the Middle Ages used to mean, in a general sense, a companion or comrade, and specifically a "fellow" member of a trade guild. The marriage of Thomas Follows and Jane Lindop was recorded on March 26th 1695, at Barthomley, Cheshire. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert Folowe, which was dated June 23rd 1566, christened at St. Peter's, Sheffield, Yorkshire, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, known as "Good Queen Bess", 1558 - 1603. 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.