This interesting and unusual surname, of Old French origin, was initially introduced into England by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066, and subsequently by French Huguenot refugees fleeing religious persecutions in their own country. The great French immigration occurred following the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes by King Louis X1V on October 22nd 1685, and the new settlers brought with them several crafts and skills ncluding glass-making, woollen weaving, cloth manufacture and the making of steel implements, which served to reinforce or expand pre-existing industries. The name itself is topographical in origin from residence by an enclosure of some sort, perhaps a courtyard set back from the main street in towns, or a farmyard in country districts. The derivation is from the Old French "clos", with the French prefix "du" (of the). Variations in the spelling of the name in 17th and 18th Century London Church Registers include: Du Clox, Du Clou, Duclou, Duclow, Dukloe and Ducklow. On January 16th 1704 Pierre Du Clou, an infant, was christened in Glasshouse street and Leicester Fields French Huguenot Church. The form Dukelow is particularly well recorded in 19th Century Church Registers of South County Cork. Margaret Dukelow and Henry Jermyn were married Cork in 1842, and on December 5th 1864 the marriage of Mary Dukelow to William Croston took place in the Durrus and Kilcrohane parish, County Cork. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Nicholas de Clos, which was dated 1296, in the "Subsidy Rolls of Sussex", during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272-1307. 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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