Brackpool

This name is of English locational origin from one of the estimated seven to ten thousand villages and hamlets that thave now disappeared from the maps in Britain. The not uncommon phenomenon of the "lost" village results from the 14th Century enforced clearing and dipersal of former inhabitants to make way for sheep pastures, the Black Death of 1348, accidents of war etc.. The only evidence of the village having existed is the surname passed on by former inhabitants. The high incidence of surname recordings in Sussex suggest that Brackpool was in that county. The component elements of the name are believed to be the Olde English pre 7th Century personal name Bracca, plus "pol", a pool or pond. In 1619 Nicholas Brackpoole married Mary Russell in Buxted, and on December 12th 1727 Joseph Brackpool, an infant was christened in Glynde. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Brackpoll, which was dated September 6th 1573, christened in St. Nicholas, Brighton, Sussex, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Good Queen Bess, 1558 - 1603. 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.