Snookes

This very unusual and interesting name is an English topographical surname, of Anglo-Saxon origin. The name denotes someone who lived on a projecting piece of land, derived from the Olde English pre 7th Century word "snoc", in Middle English "snoke", a pointed piece of land. In some cases the surname may derive from a medieval nickname for someone with a long nose, and there is also some evidence that there was an Olde English personal name 'Snoc', meaning "snake", as in the placename "Snorscomb" in Northamptonshire, which means "Snoc's valley", from the Olde English '"cumb". The modern surname has two forms, Snookes, Snook and Snooks. Thomas Snook was married to Ann Autrick in St. George's, Hanover Square, in 1766. The Coat of Arms most associated with the name is a blue shield, on a silver chevron between two eagles displayed in chief and a lion rampant in base, gold, three red fleur-de-lis. The Crest is a gold eagle reguardant on a rock proper, wings elevated, the dexter claw resting on an escutcheon, silver, charged with a red fleur-de-lis. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Eduardus Snoch, which was dated 1086, in the Domesday Book, Kent, during the reign of King William 1, known as "The Conqueror", 1066 - 1087. 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.