According to my information surnames as we know them today, were first assumed in Europe from the 11th to the 15th century. They were not in use in England and Scotland before the Norman conquest of 1066 and were first found in the Doomsday Book. The use of a second name, a custom introduced by the Normans, who themselves had not long before adopted it, became in course of time a mark of gentle blood, and it was deemed a disgrace for a gentleman to have but one single name, as the peasants had. It was not until about 1307 that the practice of using surnames became general amongst all people.

Surnames were adopted according to fairly general principles and can be divided into four classifications. Local names taken from places of origin. (Mr. Lancaster came from the town of Lancaster) Occupational names denote the trade or profession. (Mr. Cooper made barrels) Nicknames describe mental and physical characteristics, complexion, clothes etc. The patronymic was the method of taking the first name of the father as the last name of the son. (Mr. Thompson is the son of Thomas)

In my case the surname of Buckley is local of Buckley a parish in St. Albans, a township of the County of Cheshire. To this day there is a small town called Buckley in North Wales, (530 10' North, 30 5' West) which I believe was at one time in Cheshire. Over the years politics has moved county boundaries for reasons best known to the politicians. Many years ago I passed through the town of Buckley on the way to a holiday camp in North Wales. All I can say is that it only took a few minutes to drive through.

The name Buckley appears to be derived from the olde worlde spelling Bukkelegh. Early parish records dated 1332 mention a Christian de Bukkelegh who seems to have been a gentleman living in the parish of St. Albans. His family had a coat of arms the motto on which was Nec Temere Nec Timide, which means Neither Rashly Nor Timidly. It seems that I have unknowingly adopted this motto as I have approached life with this in mind long before I ever knew of the mottos existence. Whether I am descended from him or not I do not know but I do know that my father's family lived in the Manchester area and their ancestors moved to that area during the Industrial Revolution. In those days people didn't travel great distances even to re- locate for work reasons so it is quite possible that they came from Buckley as it isn't all that far from Manchester. If I am descended from Christian de Bukkelegh it is quite likely by way of an illegitimate birth to a peasant girl in the parish, rather than by legitimate means. In those days noblemen often had there way with the local virgins to abandon them afterwards. They seemed to treat it as their right to do so.

In our local telephone directory which covers Blackburn and surrounding districts, an area containing about half a million people, there are only 103 Buckleys listed only one of whom as far as I know is directly related. So we Buckleys are not very rare.

Tracing surnames is a long and torturous process, complicated by the spelling being changed over the years and people re- marrying. I think a better way would be if when two people marry, instead of the woman taking the man's name, they both have each other's names. Thus if Mr. Smith marries Miss Brown then he uses the name Mr. Smith-Brown and she Mrs. Brown-Smith. Their children would then take their surname according to their sex. Any sons would be called Master Smith-Brown and daughters, Miss Brown-Smith. Then when they reach the age of majority, (in England it is 18 years of age) or marry under that age, they drop the last part of the name. That way family trees would be simpler to trace. However I suppose that by the time a different way of naming people is developed we will all be just numbers in some massive and super fast computer database.