Seacroft

This is an English locational surname. It originates from the former village of Seacroft, now swept up in the urbanised sprawl of the city of Leeds in Yorkshire. This was a medieval village which was about as far from the sea as it is possible to get in England, and it is probable that the original spelling was 'set-croft' or similar meaning the farm (croft) by the lake. There is no lake there now, and not within living memory, but it is quite probable that there was originally as the area is amongst rolling hills. Locational surnames are from names. That is to say names given to people after they left their original homes to move somewhere else and for easy identification were given their former village name. The surname has been recorded in the regsikets of the city of London since the Stuart period, the first recording being that of Robert Seacroft who married Rebecca Hodges at St James Clerkenwell in 1670, whilst the unusual spelling of Ceacraft is found in 1749 with that of Antony Ceacraft at St Lukes Finsbury, although this spelling does not seem to have been repeated.