This curious and interesting surname is one of the more uncommon Anglicized forms of the Gaelic "Mac Mhadoc", composed of the Gaelic prefix "Mac", son of, and an Old Welsh personal name "Madoc", from "mad", fortunate. This sept were a branch of the MacMurroughs, a famous clan in Irish medieval history, who were of Gaelic-Irish, not Norman origin, according to the Book of Leinster, and whose territory was anciently known as "MacVadog's country" in Counties Wexford and Kilkenny. The sept were formerly called MacVaddock in English, and medieval and early modern Irish records contain many references to people of the name. The change from "M" to "V" is normal, as "Mh" in Gaelic is pronounced "V". Due to the fact that many Irish records have been destroyed through the centuries, and are not as comprehensive and well kept as English records, the first recorded namebearer (see below) appears relatively late. Mary Waddux was christened in 1654 in London, while Albert Weddick was born in Dublin, on February 14th 1866, and William, son of Anthony and Mary Weadock, was born in Arklow, County Wicklow, on August 5th 1867. Waddock, Maddock, Weddick and Maddox are all variants of this surname. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Madock, a County Wicklow Jacobite, which was dated circa 1690, in the Records of Townhely (Tinahely), Ireland, during the reign of King William 111 of England, known as "William of Orange", 1689 - 1702. 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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