This distinguished surname, with variant spellings Maddock(s), Maddick(s), Mattock(s), Mattack(s), etc., and having more than fifteen Coats of Arms, has its roots in the ancient Welsh male given name Matoc, a diminutive of "mad" meaning "fortunate" or "good", which survives in the modern Welsh personal name Madog. One, Madoch (without surname) was noted in the Domesday Book of 1086 for Gloucestershire, and Madog, (1150 - 1180), son of Owain Gwynedd, King of North Wales, is believed by some to have discovered America. Kenwrec filius (son of) Maddoc, and Madoc de Sotton appear in the Pipe Rolls of Shropshire in 1161 and 1272 respectively. The surname development includes: Robert Mattok, (Cheshire, 1290), and Robert Madduk, (Wiltshire, 1297). In March 1634 John Maddox, aged 43 yrs., an early emigrant to America, embarked from London on the ship "Planter" bound from New England, and in 1635 Alexander Maddox, aged 22 yrs., embarked from the same port on the "Abraham" bound for Virginia. A Coat of Arms granted to Sir Benjamin Maddox of Wormley, Hertfordshire, is divided per pale blue and red, with two gold lions passant in pale. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Madoc which was dated 1274, in the "Hundred Rolls of Shropshire", during the reign of King Edward 1st, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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.