This interesting surname is of English locational origin from either of two places thus called, one in the Blean rural district of Kent and the other five miles from Battle in Sussex. The placename derives from the old English pre 7th Century personal name "Bucca" plus "wella" a spring or stream; hence "Bucca's spring or stream". During the Middle Ages when migration for the purpose of job seeking was becoming more common, people often took their former village name as a means of identification, thus resulting in a wide dispersal of the name. The surname is first recorded in the latter half of the 16th Century (see below). On March 17th 1610, Anna daughter of Thomas Buckwell was christened at Eastbourne, Sussex. The marriage of Richard Buckwell and Elizabeth Verrall took place at Cuckfield, Sussex on June 16th 1644. Richard Buckwell and Lidia Sims were married on March 24th 1656 at Cranbrook, Kent. A Coat of Arms granted to the Buckwell Family depicts two silver bucks in pale, dressed in gold, on a black shield, bezantee (sprinkled with gold coins). The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Christopher Buckwell, (marriage to Alice Bounting), which was dated February 3rd 1569, at St. Dunstans, Stepney, London. during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1st, "Good Queen Bess", 1558 - 1603. 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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