The surname of ALLCRAFT was a locational name 'of Holcroft' a spot in County Lancashire. Local names usually denoted where a man held land, and indicated where he actually lived. The acquisition of surnames in Europe has been affected by many factors, including social class and social structure. On the whole, the richer and more powerful classes tended to acquire surnames earlier than the working classes and the poor, while surnames were quicker to catch on in urban areas than in rural areas. These facts suggest that the origin of surnames is associated with the emergence of bureaucracies. As long as land tenure, military service, and fealty were matters of direct relationship between a lord and his vassals, the need did not arise for fixed distinguishing epithets to mark out one carl from another. But as societies became more complex, and as such matters as the management of tenure and in particular the collection of taxes were delegated to special functionaries, it became imperative to have a more complex system of nomenclature to distinguish one individual from another. Early records of the name mention Robert de Holecroft, who was documented in the year 1246 in County Lancashire and John Holecroft appears in Lancashire in 1327.Johannes de Holcroft of Yorkshire was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379. In many parts of central and western Europe, hereditary surnames began to become fixed at around the 12th century, and have developed and changed slowly over the years. As society became more complex, and such matters as the management of tenure, and in particular the collection of taxes were delegated to special functionaries, it became imperative to distinguish a more complex system of nomenclature to differentiate one individual from another. Later instances of the name mention John, son of Richard Holcroft, who was baptised at St. James's, Clerkenwell, London in the year 1569, and George Holcroft and Elizabeth Cannady were married at the same church in 1660. George Holcroft wed Elizabeth Courtney in London in 1668, and William Waterhouse and Susan Holcraft also married at St. James's, in London. The associated arms are recorded in Sir Bernard Burkes General Armory. Ulster King of Arms in 1884. Registered at Balkerton, County Nottingham (Holcroft). |
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