241,176 Global Hicks Family Members

Hicks Family History

INTRODUCTION

Recorded as Hick, Hicke and the patronymics Hickes, Hicks and Hickson, this is a famous English medieval surname. Derived from the given name Richard, this was a personal name that was occasionally found in England in the pre 10th century, but was mainly popularized as Ricard by the Norman-French invaders after the Conquest of 1066. However the ulimate origin is perhaps surprisingly pre 7th century Old German, and it was then composed of the elements "ric", meaning power, with "hard", brave or strong. The personal name became a firm favourite amongst the native population of England after the reign of King Richard 1st, known as "Lionheart", (1189 - 1199)...

Hicks (Variants: Hix, Hickes, Higgs)

Derived from the personal name Richard, which is also a derivative for the surname Richardson. Other derivatives of the first name Richard gave rise to such widespread surnames as Hick, Hitch, Richie, Richey, Rick and Rich.

Hicks, also interpreted as the son of Hugh. The nickname Hugh is commonly associated with Hig or Hick. In Dutch, Hick signifies a simpleton. Hick, also being a nickname of Issac.

Early bearers of the surname: William Hickys, 1332 in Subsidy Rolls (Warwicks); Hugo Hikkes, 1377 in Poll Tax (Hambridge, Somerset); Humfredo Hickes, 1379 in Poll Tax (Bromham, Wilts); Willelmus Higges, 1379 in Poll Tax (Cruxton, Dorset); Henry Hix, 1484 in York Freemen’s Register.

In 1891, the location of the surname was widespread with across England and Wales with 12,718 occurrences and a further 1,033 in Scotland. Hicks surname was particularly frequent in Cornwall, with 1,602 occurrences. It was a top surname by total occurrence in Scilly Islands St Agnes, Cornwall with 65 occurrences.

In 1881, the most common Hicks occupation in the UK was Agricultural Labourer. Agricultural Labourer, Farmer and Labourer were the top 3 reported jobs worked by Hicks, with a less common occupation being Carpenter.

William Hicks, (b. 1809), aged 29, Cornish sawyer and carpenter, from Crowan, Cornwall, travelling aboard the ship "Lady Raffles" arriving in New South Wales, Australia on 12 September 1839.

Thomas Hicks (b. 1814), a Cornish settler from Plymouth, Devon was sentenced for 7 years for larceny at aged 21. He was transported aboard the ship "Recovery" on 30 October 1835 to New South Wales, Australia.

A notable physicist, William Mitchinson Hicks FRS (1850-1934), was a British mathematician and physicist.

Another notable physicist was Lewis Fry Richard­son (1881—1953), who first applied mathematical techniques to predict the weather reasonably accurately.

1881, 1891 Census

1881 Census in Cornwall

Dictionary of American Family Homes, P Hanks OUP 2003

Homes of Family Names in Great Britain, H.B. Guppy, London 1890

The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, P.Hanks, Coats, McClure OUP 2016

1860 Lower, Mark A Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom, London: J.R Smith. Public Domain

1857 Arthur, William An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. New York: Sheldon, Blakeman. Public Domain

https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/recovery/1835

https://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/emigration_bounty_nsw.pdf

J.M.P