Brickhill

This unusual and interesting name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational surname deriving from the place called Great and Little Brickhill, or Bow Brickhill, near Bletchley in Buckinghamshire. The place was first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Brichelle", and by the end of the 12th Century was divided into three settlements, recorded as "Bolle Brichulle", "Magna Brikehille" (1197) and "Parua Brichull" (1198). The name Brickhill derives from the Welsh "brig", top, summit, and the Old English pre 7th Century "hyll", hill. The "Bow" of Bow Brickhill is from the Old English personal name "Bolla". The development of the surname from this source includes Roger Brickell (1583, London), Edward Bryckill (1584, ibid.), and Sara Brichill (1689, London), while the modern surname can be found as Brickhill, Brickell and Brickill. One George Brickhill was christened at St. Mary's, Whitechapel, London, on April 12th 1607. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Brickhill (marriage to Jone Seaman), which was dated November 5th 1564 Addington, Buckinghamshire, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, "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.