Nendick

This interesting and unusual surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational name from some minor unrecorded place, perhaps a "lost" village. There are an estimated seven to ten thousand villages and hamlets that have now disappeared from Britain since the 12th Century; 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 15th Century, and natural causes such as the Black Death of 1348, in which an eighth of the population perished. The place is believed to have been in Yorkshire, with the component elements being the Olde English pre 7th Century "neowe, niwe", new, with "dic", ditch, moat, dike, wall of earth; hence "new ditch". The placenames Ninfield and Ninham are also derived from the Olde English "neowe", new, with "feld", open country, and "ham", settlement, respectively. Recordings of the surname from English Church Registers include: the christening of Mary, daughter of Anthonie Nendick, on March 25th 1604, at Terringlon, Yorkshire; the christening of Francis, son of William Nendick, on April 6th 1616, at Holy Trinity, Goodramgate, York; and the christening of Humphr, son of Humphr and Izzard Nendick, on November 27th 1676, at St. Gregory by St. Paul, London. The Coat of Arms most associated with the family is a silver shield with a black pale between two black crosses pattee, the Crest being a demi griffin, wings endorsed silver, supporting a black spear headed silver. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Jane Nandicke, which was dated June 1st 1591, marriage to William Toes, at Great Edstone, 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.