Kerwick - Name

Found recorded as both Kerwick and Curwick, this is a locational name of apparently Old English Antecedents. In it's "modern" form it translates as "the farm of landing place (wic) of the church (kirk)", however we have not been able to positively identify such a place. It is of course always possible that the name is a variant form of Keswick (the cheese farm) or Kepwick (the market place), misspellings and dialectal changes being a regular feature of early records. In this case the surname is first recorded in the 18th Century suggesting that the name holder came from such a village, and probably one that had been "cleared" in the prevailing "Enclosure Acts" of the period. The recordings include John Kerwich, a witness at St. Leonards Church, Shoreditch on July 12th 1779. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Francis Kerwick, which was dated November 6th 1739, married Ralph Maxey at St. Katherine by the Tower, London, during the reign of King George 11. "The Last Soldier King", 1727 - 1760. 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.