Flicker

This very unusual and interesting surname is an excellent example of spelling development aided by dialect changes and letter transposition, over many centuries. The "modern" spelling derives from the early English medieval job descriptive "fletcher", a maker of arrows, and itself a Norman-French introduction after 1066, from the Old French "flechier". The surname as "Flicker" is 18th Century, the "links" being from "Fletcher" to Flechar or Flecher, one Harrye Flecher being recorded at Enfield, Middlesex, on October 6th 1552, through the rare Flicher, on Abraham Flicher, being recorded coincidentally also at Enfield, on April 9th 1727. Recordings as "Flicker" include William and Mary Flicker, witnesses at the christening of their son Thomas, at the Church of All Hallows the Great, London, on March 17th 1799, whilst somewhat later, on April 26th 1812, Joseph and Mary Flicker were witnesses at the Church of St. Pancras, Chichester, Sussex, at the christening of their daughter, Harriet. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert Le Flecher, which was dated 1203, witness in the "Assize Court Rolls of Staffordshire", during the reign of King John, known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. 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.