Trematick

This unusual Cornish surname is locational. Perhaps not surprisingly it is recorded in many spelling forms including Tremethack, Tremethock, Tremithack, Tremithick, Tremathick, Trematick, and no doubt others as yet undiscovered! However spelt the surname originates from a place called Tremethick, near Madron, in Cornwall. The name means "The place of the doctor" from the Old Cornish words "tre medhek", the first known church recordings being from the late 16th century. Locational surnames were amongst the first to be created. It being then, and it often remains so today, that the easiest form of identification is to call a person by the name of the place either where they live, or where they came from. This can be a country (Scot), or a town (Windsor) or even a single dwelling place, as may have been the case with this surname. As only one person in ten before the year 1800 could even write their name, it is not surprising that many variant forms existed. Early examples of this surname taken from surviving Cornish church registers include Tom Tremethack of Paul, on September 22nd 1605, whilst Robert Tremethick is recorded at Ludguan, on October 1st 1715. The first known church recording may be that of Susan Tremathack, christened at Madron, on March 11th 1599, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1st, 1558 - 1603.