Kinglake

This interesting surname of English origin is a locational name from one of the seven to ten thousand villages and hamlets that have now disappeared from the maps in Britain. The prime cause of these "Disappearances" was the enforced "clearing" and dispersal of the former inhabitants to make way for sheep pastures at the height of the wool trade in the 14th Century. Natural causes such as the Black Death of 1348, also contributed to the lost village phenomenon. A large number of places in England begin with the element King, deriving from the Old English pre 7th Century "cyning" meaning "king" of "Chieftain", plus "lacu" stream. The surname dates back to the mid 16th Century, (see below). Further recordings include one Agnes Kinglake who married Christopher Hayes on June 26th 1599, at Petherton, Somerset, and William Kinglacke (1608), is recorded in "The Subsidy Rolls of Somersetshire", The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Kinglacke, which was dated 1564, North Petherton, Somerset, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, "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.