This is an English locational surname. It originates from the town of Bakewell in the county of Derbyshire, a place first recorded in the year 924 a.d. in the famous rolls known as the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicles', perhaps the first 'newpaper' ever produced. The place name recording was as 'Badecan wiella', or the springs of Badeca. The latter was a tribal name, which may have originally been associated with (Queen) Boadicea, or it may have been the name of a local chief or landowner. The surname is however much later. Being locational it may have developed from an early land owning family, there was a family called the Bakewell's of Bakewell, although for some name holders at least it may be a 'from' name. This is to say that it was a surname given to the people after the left Bakewell and moved elsewhere. In the small communities of the later Middle Ages, the easiest way to identify a stranger was to call him, or sometimes her, by the name of the place from whence they came. Spelling being problematical, and local dialects very thick, often lead to the development of 'sounds like' spellings. Bakewell seems to have largely avoided this fate. The first known recording of the surname is that of Sir John de Bakwell in the famous surviving Parliamentary Rolls of King Edward 11nd, and dated about 1308. Sir John is given as being 'from Middlesex'. It is possible that he was the M P for Bakewell. Later nameholders of some stature include Robert Bakewell of Leicestershire (1725 - 1795), who was famous for his skills in improving the breeding of cattle, whilst another Robert Bakewell (1768 - 1843) was one of the first successful geologists.

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