Blaylock - Meno

Recorded in several spellings including Blalock, Blaylock, Bleloch, Blellock, and Blelloch, this is a very rare and much travelled surname, of seemingly Scottish origins. It is locational from either of two small estates. The first being called Blelock, and apparently recorded in the county of Perthshire in 1652, but not now shown in any national gazetters, whilst the second is in Aberdeenshire. This is Blelack, although originally spelt Bleloch, which is in the parish of Logie-Coldstone some six miles north west of the town of Aboyne. Blelack is now understood to be just a single house, but it seems that in past centuries it was at least a village. Locational surnames are by the very nature "from" names. That is to say names given to people after they left their original homes and moved elsewhere. This could be the next village, or a capital city such as Edinburgh, but even more so London, which with its reputation for having streets "paved with gold" drew people from all over Britain and the continent. Spelling over the centuries being at best erratic, soon lead to the development of alternative spellings. In this case early examples of the surname recording taken at random from surviving church registers include: Elizabeth Blawelocke, the daughter of Willam Blawelocke, christened at St Brides church, Fleet Street, in the city of London, on February 27th 1639, Elizabeth Belloch, the daughter of George and Margaret Belloch, christened at St Cuthberts, Edinburgh, on February 2nd 1725, Jane Blaylock, christened at St Dunstans in the East, Stepney, on April 15th 1716, and Katherine Blalock, who married James White at South Leith, Midlothian, Scotland, on December 10th 1790.