Lakeland

Recorded in various spellings including Lakeland, Leakland, Leaklund, and even Lawkland, this would seem to be an English locational surname, from a place or perhaps an area known as Lakeland. However no such place has been identified in either England or Scotland, although perhaps surprisingly there are two villages so called in Ireland, one in Cork, the other in Monaghan. Neither of these places have given rise to the name as far as we can establish, the surname being older than the places. We do know that the name predates the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1st (1558 - 1603) as it appears in the London church registers during that time, the registers being later than the surnames they record. From this we suspect the origin is a "lost" medieval village. This is not entirely unusual in that some three thousand surnames are known to come from such an origin. As to why so many villages disappeared has been the subject of many books, but changes in agriculture, as well as the draining of the fens and wetlands, and disasters like the various Great Plagues, all played a part. An early example of the rare recordings is that of Jane Lakeland who married George Mayer at St Stephans, Coleman Street, in the city of London, on November 26th 1581.