Polycote

This interesting surname is English and locational from a place called Pollicott in Buckinghamshire. First recorded as "Policote" in the Domesday Book of 1086, and as "Policota" in the Pipe Rolls of the county in 1130, it derives from the pre 7th century "Pol" meaning a pool and "ing", the people of with "cot", a cottage or shelter, or the cottage people by the pool. During the Middle Ages, when migration for the purpose of job-seeking was becoming more common, people often used their former village name as a means of identification, thus resulting in a wide dispersal of the name. In the modern idiom the surname is recorded as Pollicott, Pollicote, Polycott, Polycote, Poleykett, Pollicatt and possibly others. Recordings of the surname from surviving English church registers include: the christening of John, son of Thomas Pollicott, on February 2nd 1556, at Stone, Buckinghamshire; the christening of Katherin, daughter of Thomas Policot, at St. Mary's, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, on September 15th 1566; and the marriage of Francis Pollicott and Jeane Cleare on April 28th 1590, at St. Margaret's, Westminster, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Polycott, which was dated November 17th 1538, marriage to Elzabeth Reynor, at Stone, Buckinghamshire, during the reign of King Henry V111, known as "Good King Hal", 1509 - 1547. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as the Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.