This interesting name is of early medieval English origin, and is a locational surname deriving from the place called "Shackleford" in Surrey, near the town of Farnham. The placename means "Schackle's ford", derived from the medieval personal name "Schackel", an Anglicized form of the Old Norse byname, or nickname, "Skolull", which translates as "wagon-pole" and was given perhaps to a tall, thin man, with the Olde English pre 7th Century "ford", ford. Locational surnames were usually given to the lord of the manor, and to those people who left their birthplace to seek work elsewhere, using the placename as a means of identification. The name is recorded in America, specifically in Philadelphia, from the 18th Century onwards. The marriage of Robert Shackleford and Joane Martin was recorded at Heckfield, Hampshire, on May 5th, 1605. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Edward Shakesford, which was dated November 14th 1574, christened at Mattingley, Hampshire, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, known as "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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