Mulcock - Name

This interesting and unusual name is of Medieval English origin and is a dialectal variant of a locational name Mulcote or Milcote, from a so called 'lost' village, likely to have been situated in Berkshire, which is suggested by the fact that recordings of the name are numerous in that county. The derivation is from the Old English pre 7th Century 'mylen', a mill, and 'cot', a cottage, thus mill cottage. The phenomenon of the 'lost' village was a result of enforced land clearance during the 12th and 13th Centuries, to make way for sheep pasture, as well as more natural causes, such as plague, war, etc., and during these times the dispossessed people, and those seeking work elsewhere, would often adopt the name of their former village as a means of identification, thus resulting in a wide dispersal of the name. In Coleshill, Berkshire, on December 11th 1726, one Thomas Mulcock was christened. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ann Mullcock, which was dated September 21st 1712, Great Shefford, Berkshire, during the reign of Queen Anne, 'The Last Stuart Monarch', 1702-1714. 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.