The intention has always been to see how and if the pockets of Lewcocks in Suffolk, Cornwall, Kent, Cumberland, Yorkshire, Surrey, Middlesex and Hampshire are connected to each other and where those in Australia, India and the USA fit in.

A (Very) Rough Guide to the Lewcocks (First Edition)

There are many variations of the surname in the records, mostly aural mis-spellings over time, but the variants, Lucock and Luckock, are in use as surnames today. The surnames Laycock and Lowcock will only be included incidentally where they appear in early records and tie in with other Lewcock /Lucock families.

My main line of Lewcocks is the basis of the tree, but it includes several other Lewcock/Lucock family groups I have come across and others will be added. 

Currently, everything is in one tree. Click here to explore The Family Tree.

Although hosted by The Guild of One Name Studies as part of my Lewcock study, the tree contains both sides of my family. I have always researched the ancestry of the wives of Lewcocks connected to me so their families can also be found.

Articles and features on the site include both sides of my family. As well as Lewcock, other prominent names include de Fraine, Tompkins, Gillett, Bradley, Elkins and Hart. 

The Family History Pages

The Lewcock study is in its early days but please do contact me if you think we can help each other with any aspect of my research.

Just some of the surname variations I have come across!

LEEUCOCK
LEUCOCK
LEUCOK
LEWCOCK – spelling in use today.
LEWCOCKE
LEWCOK
LEWCOKE
LEWKOC
LOCKCOCK
LOCKECOCK
LOCOCK
LOWCOCK (only included where the rest of “the family” uses another likely variant.)
LUCCOCKE
LUCKCOCK – spelling in use today.
LUCKECUK
LUCKKUCK
LUCKOCK
LUCKOCKE
LUCKOKE
LUCKUCK
LUCKUCK
LUCOCK – spelling in use today.
LUCOCKE
LUCOK
LUCOKE
LUCOOKE
LUKKOCKE

and the occasional SEWCOCK

Laycock, Leacock and Lowcock, are also possible variations on the original.

LEWCOCK

Consensus is that it is a diminutive but could be from Luke, Lewis or Love and origins are unclear. Since the surname is in definite pockets in the UK, they may come from different roots anyway.

Surname Database ~ Lewcock

Recorded in the spellings of Lewcock and Lowcock, this is a surname of Old Welsh and English origins. It is said to derive from the pre 7th century personal name Lowis, later generally spelt as Lewis, plus the patronymic "cocca", meaning "son of". It is said that Lowis or Lewis are short forms of the Germanic name "Lodowicus, from "hlod" meaning fame, and "wig" - war.

HOWEVER on the same site

The surname Lucock, also found as Lo(w)cock, Luck(c)ock, Luckcuck and Lewcock, derives from the Olde English male personal name "Lufa", from "lufu", love, with the later addition of the affectionate or diminutive suffix "-cock", sometimes used in the same way as the suffix "-kin", to distinguish the son from the father.

BUT

The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland  treats Lewcock as a variation of Lucock.

English: relationship name from the Middle English personal name Lovecok, Leucok , an English pet form of Anglo-Norman French Love.

OR

Forebears  has no meaning for Lewcock only Lucock.

i) Bapt. 'the son of Luke.' Lucas was the more popular form. Yet the diminutives seem formed from Luke; v. Luckett, Luckin, and Luccock. (2) Local, 'of Luke,' i.e. Liege. For further proof, v. Luck (a).
Lucas de Luk, London, 1273.

 

The personal name is well recorded in the 13th Century: Leucok Schayfe is listed in the Lancashire Assize Rolls of 1246; Lovekoc de Wlvedale in Yorkshire in 1275; and Lokoc de Heppewrth, also in Yorkshire in 1286. The surname development includes: Geoffrey Luvecoc or Lucoc (1259, Yorkshire); Henry Lovecok (1274, Essex); and Robert Lukok (1338, Yorkshire), and among the examples from Surrey Church Registers are the marriage of Rychard Lucocke and Elizabeth Steavens in Shere, on February 20th 1554, and the christening of Thomas, son of Edward Lucock, on May 22nd 1636, at Walton on the Hill.

The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Peter Luuecok, which was dated 1221, witness in the "Assize Court Rolls of Warwickshire", during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272.

The above is taken from Lucock in the Surname Database and matches the same information in several other sources.

Earliest references to Lewcock (collected in 2008).

Because some families used the different spellings in different situations, the numbers vary between censuses so these numbers are approximations across the different online databases.

There are many transcription errors on Ancestry. For example, there are Sewcocks, Lowcocks, Lacocks and a Qenesck (!) on Ancestry in 1871 which only appear as Lewcock in the index because they have been edited by subscribers. It also includes a Locock which is clearly Lucock on the image but from a family who usually used Lewcock. 

Lists on Ancestry may not be entirely accurate either because it is almost too easy to suggest corrections to entries. The figures for 1871 vary greatly between the sites, but generally there is only a difference +/- 10.

Surname distribution for 1880 USA, 1881 UK and 2014 worldwide.

Forebears: Lewcock 

Forebears: Lucock 

There are occurrences in the USA, Canada, South Africa, India and Australia.

This is a fledgling study and my data is kept offline now and probably in the future.

I plan to create family groups as I collect the data and some are already available in my online Family Tree.

Other groups and individuals will be added as and when I am able to.

I keep my master tree on my computer and upload a  newer version of the tree periodically. The tree was last uploaded in April 2022.

I manage four autosomal DNA kits for Lewcocks.

They are on Ancestry and also uploaded to FamilyTreeDNA, MyHeritage and Gedmatch.

Two of us have also tested at LivingDNA and I have also uploaded my own to Geneanet.

Thus far we have made matches with descendants on the distaff sides but not the Lewcock side. The one Lewcock with whom we have a distant paper trail did not match us, but it is so distant that the chances were going to be very small anyway.

Lewcock Genealogy ~ The Family Tree

The Family History Pages

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