Sprox History, Family Crest & Coats of ArmsThe ancient Anglo-Saxon culture once found in Britain is the soil from which the many generations of the Sprox family have grown. The name Sprox was given to a member of the family who was a person who because of their physical abilities was referred to as "sprack" or "spragg." This nickname surname was used to denote those individuals who were "agile", "nimble" and "quite lively." 1 2 3 In Shakespeare's comedy, The Merry Wives of Windsor, he states "He is a good sprag memory," IV. i. 84. 4 Early Origins of the Sprox familyThe surname Sprox was first found in Suffolk where Reginald Sprag is listed in Suffolk in 1303. This is generally considered to be the first record of the family. A few years later, Richard Sprak was listed in the Subsidy Rolls of Suffolk in 1327 and Alice Sprakes was listed in Somerset in 1359. 5 Early History of the Sprox familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Sprox research. Another 75 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1618, 1620, 1632, 1645, 1655, 1664, 1673, 1677, 1684, 1695, 1720, 1725, 1919, 1944 and 1946 are included under the topic Early Sprox History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Sprox Spelling VariationsSound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Sprox family name include Spragg, Spragge, Sprague, Sprake, Sprigg, Spriggs and many more. Early Notables of the Sprox familyNotables of this surname at this time include: Rev. Harvey Spragg of Essex; Joshua Sprigg or Sprigge (1618-1684), an English Independent theologian and preacher, chaplain to Sir Thomas Fairfax; and Francis Spriggs (died 1725), a British pirate active... Migration of the Sprox family to IrelandSome of the Sprox family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. Migration of the Sprox familyFor political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, the Canadas, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Sprox surname or a spelling variation of the name include : John Spragg who settled in New England in 1765; Richard Spragg arrived in Philadelphia in 1814; Anna, Francis, Jonathon, Mercy, Ralph, Richard and William Sprague all settled in Plymouth Massachusetts in 1623.
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