Dracks History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The history of the Dracks family name begins after the Norman Conquest of 1066. They lived in Yorkshire at Drax, which dates back to at least the Domesday Book of 1086 when it was listed as Drac. Later in the 11th century, the parish was known as Drachs. 1 2

Early Origins of the Dracks family

The surname Dracks was first found in the West Riding of Yorkshire at Drax, a parish, in the union of Selby, Lower division of the wapentake of Barkstone-Ash. 3

Early History of the Dracks family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Dracks research. Another 118 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1618, 1637 and 1669 are included under the topic Early Dracks History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dracks Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. When the Normans became the ruling people of England in the 11th century, they introduced a new language into a society where the main languages of Old and later Middle English had no definite spelling rules. These languages were more often spoken than written, so they blended freely with one another. Contributing to this mixing of tongues was the fact that medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, ensuring that a person's name would appear differently in nearly every document in which it was recorded. The name has been spelled Drax, Dracks and others.

Early Notables of the Dracks family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was William Drage (1637?-1669), English medical writer, a native of Northamptonshire, born in or about 1637. 4 Thomas Draxe (d. 1618), was an English divine, born at Stoneleigh, near Coventry, Warwickshire, 'his father...
Another 39 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Dracks Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Dracks family

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that plagued their homeland made the frontiers of the New World an attractive prospect. Thousands migrated, aboard cramped disease-ridden ships. They arrived sick, poor, and hungry, but were welcomed in many cases with far greater opportunity than at home in England. Many of these hardy settlers went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Among early immigrants bearing the name Dracks or a variant listed above were: Henry Drax who settled in Barbados in 1679 with his servants and moved in the same year to New England; Priscilla Drax who settled in Virginia in 1663..

Citations +

Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print