Shelvock
Encyclopedia
Shelvock is a name of Saxon
origins - from the Old English
scelf meaning a shelf of level ground, or flat topped hill, and ac meaning oak, taken from the ancient Manor of Shelvock, near Ruyton-XI-Towns
, Shropshire
, England
originally pronounced "shelf'ac", "shelv'ak" or "shelv'oak", but today as "shel'vock". All families with this name (and associated variants Shilvock & Shelvoke) are believed to be given to tenant-farmers and servants attached to the manor
.
Shelvock is also a type of freestone
quarried on the property, a Permian sandstone, known to be used in the building of Grimpo
Congregational Chapel, 3 km north of Shelvock.
. Sometime between the Domesday Book
and 1175 Shelvock became the head of the Manor.
The first recorded spelling of Shelvock was Shelfhoc (1175), and later Sselvak & Schelfac (c1270). From the C15th for several centuries Shelvock was the seat of the THORNES family, before its decline in the C18th and beyond. In the 1890s, then a farm house in the Parish of Ruyton-XI-Towns
(Ruyton-of-the-Eleven-Towns, or simply Ruyton), Shelvock was part of the Tedsmore Hall property. In 1894 the Township
of Shelvock included the house and only one cottage. In the C21st only the working farm remains.
Detailed History of Shelvock Manor
(North Worcestershire
/South Staffordshire
) dialect and is the dominant family name and spelling today. After US immigration some Shilvock families reverted to the name Shelvock. Both family names can be found in Central England, the US, Canada, Australia & New Zealand.
Shelvoke is a variant (occasionally Shelvoak). Extinct as a family name (since the 1960s), the name survives only in a small number of UK engineering firms, the most notable of which are Accles & Shelvoke
and Shelvoke & Drewry, which the latter became incorporated into Shelvoke Dempster, Dennis Shelvoke, & other spin-off companies. The name also exists in a firm of Accountants based in Cannock
, Staffordshire.
Noted people with the name include:
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
origins - from the Old English
Old English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
scelf meaning a shelf of level ground, or flat topped hill, and ac meaning oak, taken from the ancient Manor of Shelvock, near Ruyton-XI-Towns
Ruyton-XI-Towns
Ruyton-XI-Towns , formally Ruyton of the Eleven Towns or simply Ruyton, is a large village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It has a population of around 1,500 people and lies on the River Perry. Nearby is the large village of Baschurch and to the north the smaller village of Wykey...
, Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
originally pronounced "shelf'ac", "shelv'ak" or "shelv'oak", but today as "shel'vock". All families with this name (and associated variants Shilvock & Shelvoke) are believed to be given to tenant-farmers and servants attached to the manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
.
Shelvock is also a type of freestone
Freestone
A freestone is a stone used in masonry for molding, tracery and other replication work required to be worked with the chisel. The freestone must be fine-grained, uniform and soft enough to be cut easily without shattering or splitting. Some sources say that the stone has no grain, but this is...
quarried on the property, a Permian sandstone, known to be used in the building of Grimpo
Grimpo
Grimpo is a small hamlet in Shropshire, England. Its unusual name was formerly written Grimpool, and is possibly based on an Old English personal name. It developed as a settlement of squatter's cottages on the edge of unenclosed marshland....
Congregational Chapel, 3 km north of Shelvock.
Manor of Shelvock
In the Domesday period (1086) Shelvock was one of the three Berewicks (a hamlet attached to a manor) of the Manor of WykeyWykey
Wykey is a hamlet in Shropshire, England.It is approximately 2 miles north of the larger village of Ruyton-XI-Towns, and is recognised as one of the "XI" towns....
. Sometime between the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
and 1175 Shelvock became the head of the Manor.
The first recorded spelling of Shelvock was Shelfhoc (1175), and later Sselvak & Schelfac (c1270). From the C15th for several centuries Shelvock was the seat of the THORNES family, before its decline in the C18th and beyond. In the 1890s, then a farm house in the Parish of Ruyton-XI-Towns
Ruyton-XI-Towns
Ruyton-XI-Towns , formally Ruyton of the Eleven Towns or simply Ruyton, is a large village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It has a population of around 1,500 people and lies on the River Perry. Nearby is the large village of Baschurch and to the north the smaller village of Wykey...
(Ruyton-of-the-Eleven-Towns, or simply Ruyton), Shelvock was part of the Tedsmore Hall property. In 1894 the Township
Township (England)
In England, a township is a local division or district of a large parish containing a village or small town usually having its own church...
of Shelvock included the house and only one cottage. In the C21st only the working farm remains.
Detailed History of Shelvock Manor
Family names
Shelvock is the original family name of Shropshire origins. Shilvock - pronounced "shil'vok" - the variant created in the C17th/C18th by Black CountryBlack Country
The Black Country is a loosely defined area of the English West Midlands conurbation, to the north and west of Birmingham, and to the south and east of Wolverhampton. During the industrial revolution in the 19th century this area had become one of the most intensely industrialised in the nation...
(North Worcestershire
Worcestershire
Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
/South Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
) dialect and is the dominant family name and spelling today. After US immigration some Shilvock families reverted to the name Shelvock. Both family names can be found in Central England, the US, Canada, Australia & New Zealand.
Shelvoke is a variant (occasionally Shelvoak). Extinct as a family name (since the 1960s), the name survives only in a small number of UK engineering firms, the most notable of which are Accles & Shelvoke
Accles & Shelvoke
Accles & Shelvoke is a company based in the English Midlands. It is a manufacturer of humane slaughtering pistols, and has developed them since the early twentieth century....
and Shelvoke & Drewry, which the latter became incorporated into Shelvoke Dempster, Dennis Shelvoke, & other spin-off companies. The name also exists in a firm of Accountants based in Cannock
Cannock
Cannock is the most populous of three towns in the district of Cannock Chase in the central southern part of the county of Staffordshire in the West Midlands region of England....
, Staffordshire.
Noted people with the name include:
- Captain George Shelvocke, C18th Privateer & Author
- George Shelvocke, son of Captain George Shelvocke, a member of the crew and later Secretary General of the Post Office in London