Recorded as Brockelsby, Brocklesby and Brockelsbie, this is an English surname, but one arguably of pre 8th century Norse or Danish Viking origins. It is locational from the village of Brocklesby in the county of Lincolnshire. This place is first recorded in the famous Domesday Book of 1086 as Brochelesbi, and later in the Lincolnshire Survey of 1115 as Broclosbi. The name means 'The settlement of Broclos', the latter being an early Norse personal name meaning breech-less, or without breeches (!) plus the Viking word '-by', a farm or settlement. The nickname became an English surname in its own right, as in Robert Brekeles of Yorkshire in 1276, whilst Thomas Brocklesby and Isbel Thistlethwyat were married at Stainton by Lanworth in Lincolnshire on June 15th 1628. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard de Broclousebi, believed to have been the lord of the manor of Brockelsby. This was dated 1199, in the Danelaw Charters of Lincolnshire, during the reign of King John of England, 1199-1216. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as the Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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