Lockwood

This interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is an ancient locational name which derives from the village of Lockwood, now a suburb of Huddersfield in the (former) West Riding of Yorkshire. The placename is derived from the Olde English pre 7th Century "loc wudu", translating as "one resident at the wood enclosed by fencing". Like most locational names it was given either to the lord of the manor, or to a former inhabitant who moved to another area. In the case of Lockwood it may be a case of "both", as the original nameholder was granted a Coat of Arms in Staffordshire! The name recording includes Thomas de Loke - Wood in the 1379 Poll Tax Rolls of Yorkshire. Church recordings include John Lockwood, who married Jane Taylor on May 19th 1555, at St. Mary Magdalene's, Old Fish Street, London, and their daughter, Ellyn, who was christened on May 26th 1556, also at St. Mary Magdalene's, Old Fish Street. Elizabeth Lockwod was christened on April 28th 1560, at St. Martin's, Pomeroy, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Henry de Locwode (knight), which was dated 1294, in the records of the Staffordshire Courts, during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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.