Alesbrook

This unusual surname, recorded in English Church Registers from the late 16th Century under the variant spellings Allesbrook, Alsebrook, Awlsebrook, Awsilbrook, Alcebrook, Aylesbrook and Ellsbrook, is of locational origin from some minor, unrecorded, or now "lost" place, believed to have been in the Leicestershire/Derbyshire area because of the high incidence of early recordings from those counties. The initial element of the placename is believed to be the genitive case of the Olde English pre 7th Century personal name "Aelle", also found in Alsop, Derbyshire, recorded as "Elleshope" in the Domesday Book of 1086, and as "Aleshop" in 1241, with the Olde English "broc", brook, stream; hence, "Alle's brook". Locational surnames, such as this, were originally given to local landowners, and the lord of the manor, and especially as a means of identification to those who left their birthplace to settle elsewhere. Regional and dialectal differences subsequently gave rise to several variations on the original spelling, which account for the diversity in the modern spelling of the name. On August 9th 1602, Joane Awlsebrooke and George Dunn were married at St. Mary's, Leicester, and on April 5th 1608, An Alsebrooke married a William Smyth at Loughborough, Leicestershire. The marriage of Robert Alesbrook to Sisley Brukemshaw took place in Pleasley, Derbyshire, on June 22nd 1617. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Awsibrooke, which was dated May 24th 1597, marriage to Grace Leison, at Church Broughton, Derbyshire, 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.