Bundock

This unusual surname, recorded in the spellings of Bondock, Bundock, Bundick, and Bunduck, is habitational and of Olde English pre 7th Century origins. It derives from residence at the "ock", a derivation of (C)ott, i.e., house, or wick, a derivative of "wic", meaning a farm. The latter is most likely as all early place spellings are in this form. More controversial is the personal prefix, which may have been from "Bond", a husbandman or tenant, but was probably "Bunna", an English name of lost meaning, the latter again being the early recording. The name may well derive from the Yorkshire village of Bonwick, recorded in circa 1278 as "Bunnewic", or from some now "lost" medieval village. The early recordings include William Bunduke, who married Elizabeth Smith at St. Mary's Church, Whitechapel, London, on August 5th 1615; he may be the same person as William Bundock, who in January 1635 was recorded as being Master of the ship "Hopewell", which carried many of the earliest settlers to the Colony of "New Virginea", New England. It would seem that the American expression "Boondock", is of "Indian" origin and refers to an area of swampy ground. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Roberte Bundocke, which was dated June 3rd 1611, marriage to Elizabeth Rowdhowse, at St. Giles, Cripplegate, London, during the reign of King James 1 of England and V1 of Scotland, 1603 - 1625. 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.