This surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational name from any of the various places throughout England, and in Scotland, named with the Olde English pre 7th Century "suth", south(ern), and "wic", an early loan-word from the Latin "vicus" meaning "dwelling-place; village; hamlet, diary-farm". These places include: Southwick in Northamptonshire, recorded as "Suthwycan" in the Saxon Chartulary, dated 972, and Southwick in Gloucestershire, Sussex, Durham, Hampshire and Wiltshire, appearing respectively as "Sudwicha" in the Domesday Book of 1086; as "Sudewic" in "Documents preserved in France", dated 1073; as "Suthewich" in the 1195 Charter Rolls of Durham; and as "Sudwic" and "Sothewyke" in Records of Hampshire and Wiltshire, dated 1212 and 1322 respectively. Southwick, in Kirkcudbrightshire, is the chief source of the name in Scotland. Early examples of the surname include: William de Sudwic (Northamptonshire, 1202); Gilbert de Southaic, witness in Scotland, in 1210; Thomas de Suthewyk (Sussex, 1332); and William Southwyke (Gloucestershire, 1363). On March 27th 1547, Ellen, daughter of Robert Southwick, was christened at St. Leonard's, Eastcheap, London. The Coat of Arms of Southwick Priory in Hampshire is a silver shield, on a black chief two roses of the first. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ogga aet Suthwycan, which was dated 972, in the "Old English Byname Register", Northamptonshire, during the reign of Edgar the Saxon, Ruler of England, 959 - 975. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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