Tuckwood

This interesting surname is of English locational origin from one of the estimated seven to ten thousand villages and hamlets that have now disappeared from the maps in Britain. The prime cause of these "disappearances" was the enforced "clearing" and dispersal of the former inhabitants to make way for sheep pastures at the height of the wool trade in the 14th Century. Natural causes such as the Black Death of 1348 also contributed to the lost village phenomenon. The original place is believed to have been in Leicestershire where the name is widely recorded. The component elements of the placename are the Old English pre 7th Century personal name "Tocca" plus "wudu" meaning a wood or forest; hence "Tocca's wood". The surname is first recorded in the early half of the 18th Century (see below). On March 20th 1743, Benjamin Tuckwood married Catherine Hulse, at Ab Kettleby Cum Holwell, Leicestershire. The marriage of John Tuckwood and Mary Cook took place at Somerby, Leicestershire, on March 31st 1745. Thomas, son of Thomas and Alice Tuckwood, was christened on June 23rd 1756, Sproxton, Leicestershire. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Tuckwood, witness at christening, which was dated September 20th 1741, Grimston, Leicestershire, during the reign of King George 11, "The Last Warrior King", 1727 - 1760. 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.