Twycross

Recorded in various spellings including Twicross and Twycross, this is an English surname. It originates from a village called Twycross in Leicestershire. This village is first recorded in the famous Domesday Book of 1086 as 'Tuicros. The meaning is obscure but in Old English 'tui' would have normally meant 'double' but as the word 'cros' is always used to signify a crossroad or junction, it has been suggested that perhaps the original cross had four arms. If so as Saxon crosses were usually of stone, it would certainly have been different to the usuall designs. The early recordings of the surname provide some difficulty. Heraldic records suggest that a branch of the family were in the county of Norfolk as early as 1467, but if so we have not been able to prove any recordings. The coat of arms that was granted has the blazon of a red field, charged with a chevron between in chief two cross cosslets fitchee, and in base an annulet, all gold. The crest is a white swan rising. The earliest recording that we have proven is as shown below in the time of Henry V111, whilst other early recordings include Johis Twycrosse at St Mary's, Hinckley, Leicester on October 12th 1599, and on March 3rd 1625, Richard Twicrose was christened at St Anns Blackfriars, in the city of London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Henry Twycrosse. This was 1543, at Nether Whitacre, Warwickshire, during the reign of King Henry V111, known as 'Bluff King Hal', 1510 - 1547. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.