This interesting surname of English origin is a locational name from a place so called in Cumberland, deriving from the old English pre 7th Century "styr(i)c", "steorc" meaning "bullock" plus "land", "land" or "pasture", hence "land (pasture) for young bullocks or heifers". The surname dates back to the late 12th Century, (see below). Further recordings include William de Strickland (1278), "The Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem of Westmoreland", and Walter Stryleland (1442) witness, "The Assize Rolls of London". Variations in the idiom of the spelling include Stryckland, Stirland, etc.. Charles, son of Robert and Jane Strickland, was christened at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster, on June 19th 1695, and one Alice Strickland married Thomas Ducke on November 11th 1571 at St. Vedast Foster land and St. Michael le Querne, London. Thomas John Francis Strickland (1679 - 1740) known as Abbe Strickland was bishop of Namur and doctor of the Sorbonne. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Vchtred de Striclands, which was dated 1193, "The Poll Tax Records of Westmoreland", during the reign of King Richard 1, "The Lionheart", 1189 - 1199. 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.