| Notes |
- Name Meaning: Croft Recorded in many spellings as shown below, this is an English surname of pre 6th century origins. These included a nickname surname for a smart, cunning person, deriving from the pre 7th century word "craeft" meaning craft or skill. Secondly it may be topographical for someone who lived by a "croft". This described a piece of enclosed land used for tillage or pasture. Thirdly there are several places in England called Croft and the surname may equally be locational from any of them. As an example Croft village in Leicestershire was recorded as "Craeft" in the Saxon Chartulary of 836 a.d.. The word "craeft" means a machine, such as a wind mill or water mill. The surname is first recorded in the latter half of the 12th Century (see below), and modern spellings include Atcroft, Bycraft, Bycroft, Croft, Crofts, Crafts, Cruft and Crufts. Examples of recordings include Roger de Croft in the Curia Regis Rolls of Warwickshire in the year 1213, whilst on February 20th 1557, John Craft, was christened at the church of St. Martin Ludgate, in the city of London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Aluric Craft. This was dated 1185, in the records of the Knight Templars of Essex, during the reign of King Henry 11nd, 1154 - 1189. 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. The surname of CROFT was a locational name 'the dweller by the croft, the small farm or enclosure'. The name was derived from the Old English word CROEFT, and there are several places in England named with this word, and the surname may equally be a habitation name from any of them. Croft in Leicestershire, is so called from the craft, skill, also used in the concrete sense of a machine engine or mill. Local surnames, by far the largest group, derived from a place name where the man held land or from the place from which he had come, or where he actually lived. These local surnames were originally preceded by a preposition such as 'e', 'atte', 'by' or 'in'. The names may derive from a manor held, from working in a religious dwelling or from literally living by a wood or marsh or by a stream. Following the Crusades in Europe a need was felt for a family name. This was recognized by those of noble blood, who realised the prestige and practical advantage it would add to their status. Early records of the name mention CROEFT (without surname) who was documented in 1185 in County Leciestershire, and Edward by Croft was mentioned in County Somerset, during the reign of Edward III (1327-1377). Johannes del Croft, listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379. Thomas in le Croft, 1448 Yorkshire. Hanna Croft was baptised at St. Jame's, Clerkenwell, London in 1669. One family of this name trace their descent from Bernard de Croft who was recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086 as the holder of lands at Croft near Hereford, from which the surname was derived. In many parts of central and western Europe, hereditary surnames began to become fixed at around the 12th century, and have developed and changed slowly over the years. As society became more complex, and such matters as the management of tenure, and in particular the collection of taxes were delegated to special functionaries, it became imperative to distinguish a more complex system of nomenclature to differentiate one individual from another.
|
1734 - 1812 (77 years)
Has 2 ancestors and 80 descendants in this family tree.
1714 - DECEASED
William CROFTS, b. 1710, Wingerworth, Derbyshire, England
Mary HARRISON, b. 15 Feb 1739, North Wingfield, Derbyshire, England 
