This most interesting surname is of Old French and early medieval English origin. It is composed of a medieval diminutive of the Greek name "Peter" or the French variant "Piers, Pierre", plus the suffix "-kin", although in this case the suffix itself has been further altered by local dialects to its present form. The surnames Parks, Perks, Parkin and Perkin(s) also originate from this source. The surname is first recorded in London relatively late, in the early 18th Century (see below), where Perkey and Parkey recordings are intermixed. Other examples of the surname include the marriage of Mary Perky and Henry William Hart on January 24th 1824 at the Church of St. Nicholas, Deptford in London; and the marriage of Sarah Ann Parkey and Samuel Sidibottom on May 21st 1827 at Moltram in Cheshire. A Coat of Arms was granted to James Parke, a Baron of the Court of Exchequer, which depicts on a pale engraved between two palets, three gold stags' heads cabossed of the field on a red shield, with the Motto "Justitiae tenax". The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Faith Parkey, which was dated October 10th 1704, marriage to William Burnett, by Civil Licence in London, during the reign of Queen Anne, known as "The Last Stuart Monarch", 1702 - 1714. 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.

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