Brookbank

This is a surname of English and specifically Yorkshire origins. Recorded in various spellings including Brooksbank, Brookbank, Brookbanks and Brockbank, it describes a person who came from the 'lost' hamlet of Brooksbank, in the area known as Agbrigg, near the city of Bradford, in West Yorkshire. It is said that the place name derived from the Old English pre 7th century 'brock, meaning a badger, plus the suffix 'bank', to give 'the badgers bank', which seems a logical explanation. However it could also describe a place on the bank of a brook. In ancient times a brook was not a stream, but an area of winter water, which dried out in the summer. Locational surnames were usually given to those people who left their original home to live in another town or village. Medieval spelling being at best erratic, lead to the development of alternative spellings. In this case early examples of the surname recording include Sibell Brockbank, who married Florence Caudwell at St Michaels church, Cornhill, in 1591, and Christopher Smirthwaite and Elizabeth Brooksbank, who were married at St. George's chapel, Hanover Square, in 1791, both recordings being from the registers of the city of London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Thomas Brokesbank. This was dated 1379, in the Poll Tax Returns of Yorkshire. This was during the reign of King Richard 11 of England, 1377 - 1399. -