Ecob History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The surname Ecob was first found in the West Riding of Yorkshire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor of Echope (the earlier Saxon name). After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, having prevailed over King Harold, granted most of Britain to his many victorious Barons. It was not uncommon to find a Baron, or a Bishop, with 60 or more Lordships scattered throughout the country. These he gave to his sons, nephews and other junior lines of his family and they became known as under-tenants. They adopted the Norman system of surnames which identified the under-tenant with his holdings so as to distinguish him from the senior stem of the family. After many rebellious wars between his Barons, Duke William, commissioned a census of all England to determine in 1086, settling once and for all, who held which land. He called the census the Domesday Book, 1 indicating that those holders registered would hold the land until the end of time. Hence, conjecturally, the surname is descended from the tenant of the lands of Eccup, held by the Count of Mortain and his under-tenant, Richard de Surdeval, who was recorded in the Domesday Book census of 1086. Richard de Surdeval was from Surdeval, in Manche in the arrondisement of Mortain, in the canton of Surdeval in Normandy. He received important charters of Hooton Pagnall and the Brus fee, part of which he sold to the Paynells as recorded in the Early Charters of Yorkshire (vol.vi,p 4). Richard de (Surdeval) Eccup was apparently a relation of the Count of Mortain, probably a younger son, or natural son. At the Domesday, Eccup was a large village north of Leeds. It now has a reservoir.