Fazakerley - Name

This interesting name is a locational surname derived from a small place in the parish of Walton on the hill near Liverpool. The word is of Anglo-Saxon origin from the old pre 7th Century English 'faes' a border or fringe plus 'accer', a field plus 'leah', a wood or clearing. The surname had already clearly emerged by the latter part of the thirteenth Century, (see below) and many of its namebearers trace their ancestry back to the same Henry Fasakerlegh. Under the influence of classical learning the surname was sometimes given an initial spelling imitation of the Greek, hence Phizackerl(e)y, a variant chiefly associated with the furness district of North Lancashire. An early registration in Lancashire was for Edward, son of Edward Fazackerley who was christened at Altcar on June 1st 1677. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Henry de Fasakerlegh, which was dated 1276, in the "Assize Rolls for Lancashire", 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.