Sharrock
– How and where did the name originate.
You
will have seen the extract from the “Visitation of Cornwall” in
which Ribblesdale, and Shorrockhayes in particular,
are given as the source of the family.
According
to GUPPY in "The Homes of Family Names", SHARROCK and SHORROCK are
Lancashire names possibly from Whalley (which is
close to Shorrock Green, just outside Preston),
whilst in "SURNAMES", by E. Weekley, there is mention of Herbert de Schirhoc, 1199-1332 Fine Rolls.
In "A
Dictionary of British Surnames", P. H. Reaney,
mentions Richard de Shorrok, 1332, as appearing in
the Subsidy Rolls for Lancashire and suggests Shorrock
Green, near Blackburn in Lancashire as the source of the name.
If the
entry in the Visitation of Cornwall is accurate then there is a direct
connection between the SHARROCK family and SHORROCK GREEN in Lancashire. It
would also point to a probable link with the SHARLOCK, SHERLOCK, SCURLOCK and
SCURLOG families whose Coats of Arms, shown in The General Armory
are very similar to the one for SHARROCK in the Cornish Visitation.
According
to the Rouge Dragon Pursuivant, in his letter of 19th
May, 1993, there are no Arms recorded at the College of Arms for the Sharrock family. In fact he goes on to say those mentioned
in J.L. Vivian’s 1887 “Visitation”, are different anyway.
According
to the “Visitation” the first Sharrock
was, in fact, a Shorrock. He is shown without christian name and that he married
the daughter of Dewhurst. Working to roughly thirty years a generation, he
would have been born about 1470.
The
"History of Lancashire" has several references, particularly for the
Blackburn Hundred, of which the following is a, partial, extract:-
SHORROCK GREEN. The family of Shorrock
appear here at an early date. William and Henry, sons of Roger de Shorok, occur about 1300. Richard
de Shorrok was one of the biggest contributors to the
subsidy of 1332. (21) William his son was a freeholder here in 1336. John de Shorrok contributed to the poll tax of 1379; and his son
and heir William was in possession of "Old Shorock"
in Mellor in 1411
(22)
Geoffrey Shorock made his will before
witnesses in 1459. For a long period the descent of the estate cannot be traced, but
ultimately it passed to the family of
Clayton of Blackburn.
(18) The
two Lords of Mellor in 1292 sued Alice de Shorrok,
Adam de Hunteleye and Henry de Sholley for felling
300 oak trees price 40s. in their wood since 1284. Deuyas afterwards withdrew Assize R.408,m
53d.
Further
detail is given in the book "Mellor in Blackburnshire
- A short History with supplement". An extract of which shows:-
Shorrock, of Shorrock Green.
The
family of Shorrock or Shorok
is mentioned at a very early date. Their original home appears to have been in
the neighbourhood of Woodfold,
where old maps and records give, not only Shorrock
Hey and Shorrock Hey Fold, but also "Old Shorrock" and "Shorrock
Green".
About
1300, William and Henry, sons of Roger de Shorok, are
mentioned. Other members
of the family, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, were Richard de Shorrok, John de Shorrok, and
Geoffrey
Shorrock. Their estate of Shorrock Green passed at a later date to the Claytons.
There appear to be representatives of the family in Blackburn and Salesbury.
The
area where the family lived is just to the west of Blackburn and south of
Mellor. Around Woodfold park and its large lake can
still be seen Higher, Lower and Middle Sharrock Hey
Farms
An
older map (1786), by Yates and showing both Shorrock
Green and Shorrock Hey, is, in part, as follows.
