Sandbach

This unusual name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational surname deriving from the place called "Sandbach" in Cheshire, near Crewe. The placename is recorded as "Sanbec" in the Domesday Book of 1086, and as "Sondbache" in the Cheshire Court Rolls of 1260. The name means "the sandy stream or valley", derived from the Old English pre 7th Century "sand", sand, and "bece", "baece", in Middle English "beche", stream, or valley of a stream. Locational surnames such as this were given especially to those former inhabitants of a place who moved to another area. The christening of George Sandbatch was recorded on June 19th, 1603 at St. Giles, Cripplegate, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Anne Sandbach (marriage to Richard Lowe), which was dated January 21st, 1585, at Astbury, Cheshire, 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.