Clack - Name

This interesting name derives from the Olde English nickname Clacc originally given to a chatterer or one who clacked. The first recording of the forename is an early one "Clac de Fugelburne", Cambridgeshire, circa 975. The surname first appears in the latter half of the 12th Century. An alternate spelling Clac is entered in the 1327, Subsidy Rolls of Somerset. In 1774, one, John Clack married an Ann Jeffreis in St. Georges Church, Hanover Square, London. The name is recorded in Glamorgan, Llantwitfarde (Wales) the following century. John Henry Clack, son of Henry and Ann Clack was baptised there on December 20th 1868.The Coat of Arms granted to the family of Herefordshire and Wallingford, county Berkshire on 13th November, 1768 has the blazon of a red shield thereon an eagle displayed ermine, within a bordure engrailed erminoise. The crest being a demi gold eagle. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Godricius Clacca, which was dated 1169, in the Pipe Rolls of Berkshire, during the reign of King Henry 11, known as the Builder of Churches, 1154 - 1189. 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.