Titchard

This is a very rare surname, apparently only recorded before the 20th Century in the Lancashire area. The spelling clearly indicates that it is habitational or job-descriptive for one who bred young goats (Olde English "Ticce") on a small farm (yard). The Sussex village of "Gatwick" (the goat farm) has a similar meaning. However, if there ever was such a place as "Ticce-yard", or similar, this is now "lost", and no such name is given in the lost medieval village list, which contains several thousand names and references, or the English placenames register, or the 20th Century "Gazetteer of the British Isles". It is therefore possible that the name is a variant form of another surname. George Tisgarld was recorded as a witness at his daughter Amey's christening at St. Sepulchre's Church, London, on July 31st 17171. This name is possibly the Anglicized variant of the French "Tissart", and may be a "link" spelling with "Titchard", although there are a number of possibilities. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Isaac Titchard, which was dated December 25th 1866, marriage to Anne Woodcock, at Great Sankey, Lancashire, during the reign of Queen Victoria, known as "The Great White Queen", 1837 - 1901. 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.