This interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational name from one of the estimated seven to ten thousand villages and hamlets that have now disappeared from the maps in Britain. The prime course of these "disappearances" was the enforced "clearing" and dispersal of the former inhabitants to make way for sheep pastures at the height of the wool trade, from the 15th Century on. Natural causes such as the Black Death of 1348, during which an eighth of the population perished, also contributed to the lost village phenomenon. The original place is believed to have been in South Lancashire or Cheshire, with the component elements being the Olde English pre 7th Century personal name "Taetel", with "ac", oak; hence "Taetel's oak". Recordings of the surname from English Church Registers include: the marriage of Jane Tatlocke and William Swyfte on August 13th 1563 at Aughton by Ormskirk, Lancashire; the christening of Thomas, son of Richard Tatlock, on January 2nd 1612 at Melling by Maghull, Lancashire; and the marriage of Alce Tatlock and Richard Jenkingson on May 12th 1623 at Skipton in Craven, Yorkshire. A Coat of Arms granted to the Tatlock family is a blue shield with a gold bend cotised, in chief a silver dolphin naiant, the Crest being out of a blue mural coronet a dexter arm brandishing a sword wavy proper. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ellin Tatlocke, which was dated June 18th 1559, marriage to Jamis Asmall, in Ormskirk, Lancashire, 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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