Spreading the Name
Population of Great Britain and Ireland 1300's to date
for more indepth information Gendocs
Around 1350 the Black death plague wiped out nearly a third of the population this had a direct impact on the spread of single source surnames. Under the feudal system peasants were not allowed to leave their villages as they were the labourers for the Lords of the manors. After the plague labour was in short supply and workers were tempted away by better offers of employment. This became a problem for the Lords and a law was passed limiting wages.
for more in depth information HistoryLearningSite
Green Counties show households in 1881 Census yellow numbers give total of all the variants in each county
