Show ContentsReasbeck History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Early Origins and Etymology of Reasbeck

The surname Reasbeck was first found in the West Riding of Yorkshire where the earliest record of the name was found as Rastric (Rastrick) in the Domesday Book. There we found two entries for the place: the first in Morley Wapentake and the second in the West Riding. (both entries are referring to the same place) 1

Rastrick is now a "chapelry, in the parish and union of Halifax, wapentake of Morley." 2

Today Rastrick is a village in the West Riding near Brighouse and Huddersfield where remains of an ancient fort have been found at Castle Hill. The name was derived from the Old Scandinavian word "rost" + the Old English word "ric" and probably meant "raised strip or ridge with a resting place" 3 The earliest record of the family was found in this parish where Roger de Rastric was recorded in the Pipe Rolls of 1212. 4 5 John de Rastrik was listed at Wakefield in 1274 and the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 include an entry for Katerina Rastrik (Rastrike). 4 6

Early History of the Reasbeck family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Reasbeck research. Another 58 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1212, 1274, 1379, 1650, 1660, 1674, 1687 and 1727 are included under the topic Early Reasbeck History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Reasbeck Spelling Variations

Spelling variations in names were a common occurrence in the eras before English spelling was standardized a few hundred years ago. In the Middle Ages, even the literate regularly changed the spellings of their names as the English language incorporated elements of French, Latin, and other European languages. Many variations of the name Reasbeck have been found, including Rastick, Rastich, Raistrick, Raistrich, Rasticke and many more.

Early Notables of the Reasbeck family

John Rastrisk (1650-1727), English nonconformist minister, son of John and Afling Raistrige, born at Heckington, Lincolnshire. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, and graduated B.A. 1660, M.A. 1674. Having taken orders, he became in 1674 vicar of Kirton, Lincolnshire. His parish was not populous, but wide and scattered, and he applied himself to pastoral work with great assiduity. Acting on puritan principles, he withheld baptism from illegitimate children till there was evidence of the parents' penitence, and restricted the communion to those whom he deemed duly prepared. He allowed the scrupulous to receive the communion sitting, sometimes read the burial...
Another 100 words (7 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Reasbeck Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Reasbeck family

For many English families, the social climate in England was oppressive and lacked opportunity for change. For such families, the shores of Ireland, Australia, and the New World beckoned. They left their homeland at great expense in ships that were overcrowded and full of disease. Many arrived after the long voyage sick, starving, and without a penny. But even those were greeted with greater opportunity than they could have experienced back home. Numerous English settlers who arrived in the United States and Canada at this time went on to make important contributions to the developing cultures of those countries. 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 Reasbeck were among those contributors: F. J. Rastrick, who was on record in the census of Ontario, Canada of 1871.


Contemporary Notables of the name Reasbeck (post 1700) +

  • Joe Reasbeck, American politician, Candidate for U.S. Representative from Texas 22nd District, 2006 7

Arrow Air Flight 1285
  • Mr. Patrick Scott Reasbeck (1964-1985), American Specialist 4th Class from Adena, Ohio, USA who died in the Arrow Air Flight 1285 crash 8


  1. Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
  2. Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
  3. Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
  4. Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
  5. Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
  6. Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
  7. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 17) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
  8. American War Memorials - Flight 1285. (Retrieved 2016, August 24) . Retrieved from http://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=317&MemID=550


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