This interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational name from a place thus called in Buckinghamshire. The place was recorded as "Policote" in the Domesday Book of 1086, and as "Policota" in the 1130 Pipe Rolls, and derives from the Olde English pre 7th Century "Poli(ng)", people from Pol, and "cot", cottage or shelter; hence, "cottage of the people from Pol"; "Pol" is now a lost placename. During the Middle Ages, when migration for the purpose of job-seeking was becoming more common, people often used their former village name as a means of identification, thus resulting in a wide dispersal of the name. In the modern idiom the surname is recorded as Pollicott, Pollicote, Polycott, Polycote and Pollicatt. Recordings of the surname from English Church Registers include: the christening of John, son of Thomas Pollicott, on February 2nd 1556, at Stone, Buckinghamshire; the christening of Katherin, daughter of Thomas Policot, at St. Mary's, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, on September 15th 1566; and the marriage of Francis Pollicott and Jeane Cleare on April 28th 1590, at St. Margaret's, Westminster, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Polycott, which was dated November 17th 1538, marriage to Elzabeth Reynor, at Stone, Buckinghamshire, during the reign of King Henry V111, known as "Good King Hal", 1509 - 1547. 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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