Surname: Delves This unusual and interesting name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is derived
from the Old English pre 7th Century "(ge)delf", digging, mine, quarry
or ditch. As a surname from this source Delf and its variant forms
Delph, Delve and Delves, may be topographical, denoting residence by
the quarry or quarries or ditch(es), or it may be a metonymic
occupational name for a miner, excavator or quarrier, from the Old
English "delfere", "delf" with the agent suffix "-er". In some cases
the modern surname may be locational in origin, from the places called
"Delph" in Yorkshire or "King's Delph" in Huntingdonshire, derived from
"delf", as before. The variant "Delves" is in cases the genitive form,
meaning "or Delph" or "of the quarry", but may also be a patronymic,
meaning "son of the miner", for instance. John Delves is recorded in
the Ancient Deeds of Staffordshire for 1376. The first recorded
spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Mabel de la Delve,
which was dated 1296, in the "Sussex Subsidy Rolls", during the reign
of King Edward , known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307.
Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal
taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the
centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often
leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.
John de Delves was living at Delves Hall near Uttoxeter, Staffordshire in 1303. His father was Hugo Del Delf, who was issued a writ by the King on July 26th, 1281. Details in "Records of an Old Cheshire Family" by Sir Delves L. Broughton originally published in 1908 but recently published by Mercianotes ISBN 978-1-905999-04-0.