Crowdy

This rare and interesting name is of Medieval English origin and is a dialectal variant of a locational name Crowdycote from a place so called in Derbyshire, which is first recorded in the Feet of Fines of 1223 as "Crudecote" in the Charter Rolls of 1251 as "Corudecote", and derives from the Old English pre 7th Century personal name "Cruda". During the Middle Ages when it was becoming increasingly common for people to leave their birthplace to seek work elsewhere, they would often adopt the placenames as a means of identification. Thus resulting in a wide dispersal of the name. Amongst the sample recordings in London are the christenings of Simon Crowdey on March 1st 1672 at St. Botolph's, Bishopgate, and Mary Susanna Crowdy on March 23rd 1777 at St. Sepulchre. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Henry Crowdy, which was dated May 26th 1597, in St. Margaret's, Westminster, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, known as "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.