The name Bowcock is an ancient Anglo-Saxon name that was given to a person who was a proud or gaudy person. The surname Bowcock is derived from the various Old English words pecok, pacok, pocok, pehen, and pohen, which all mean peacock.
The surname Bowcock was first found in Durham where they held a family seat from early times and their first records appeared on the early census rolls taken by the early Kings of Britain to determine the rate of taxation of their subjects.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bowcock research. Another 92 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1604, 1691, 1585, 1585, 1591, 1591 and 1604 are included under the topic Early Bowcock History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Only recently has spelling become standardized in the English language. As the English language evolved in the Middle Ages, the spelling of names changed also. The name Bowcock has undergone many spelling variations, including Pocock, Pococke and others.
Notables of this surname at this time include: Sir George Pocock; and Edward Pococke (1604-1691), an English Orientalist and biblical scholar. Born in Oxford, in a house near the Angel Inn...
Another 30 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Bowcock Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
To escape the unstable social climate in England of this time, many families boarded ships for the New World with the hope of finding land, opportunity, and greater religious and political freedom. Although the voyages were expensive, crowded, and difficult, those families that arrived often found greater opportunities and freedoms than they could have experienced at home. Many of those families went on to make significant contributions to the rapidly developing colonies in which they settled. Early North American records indicate many people bearing the name Bowcock were among those contributors: