If your surname is Crackling, Gozzett, Gazzard or Godsave then your roots are deeply embedded in Essex soil.

Historical Essex surnames are the focus of new research at Essex University, based on information taken from the 1881 census for England, Wales and Scotland.

That year, there were 579,153 people living in the county with 30,583 differently-spelt surnames - giving a new surname for every 19 people.

And the top 20 surnames in order were Smith, Brown, Clark, Wright, Taylor, Green, Turner, King, White, Wood, Cook, Baker, Johnson, Carter, Martin, Harvey, Chapman, Harris, Clarke and Jones.

One in ten people in the county had one of these names although Smith, which topped the list, was by far the most popular with twice as many people called Smith as there were those called Brown.

But of those people born in Essex, rather than those living in Essex, the order of surnames was slightly different.

The county at this time was then, as now, home to many people moving into the growing area in the south west.

Smith was still by far the most popular but Perry and Barker joined the top 20 with Jones and Harris falling out.

Surnames particularly Essex in character, and being found mainly in this county, included - in order of popularity - Thurogood, Mynard, Skingsley, Linn, Godsave, Gaywood, Cottiss, Samms, Gazzard, Bonnington, Lanstone, Hunwicks, Wrycraft, Reddington, Ockendon, Overett, Saych, Elcock, Crackling, Worraker, Engwell, Gozzett, Gypps, Samford, Wheele, Mihill, Waskett, Wenn, Spendley, Marrington, Bartrop and Ingold.

That year, the most popular christian names for males in Essex were William, John, George, James, Charles, Thomas, Henry, Joseph, Arthur, Alfred, Walter, Frederick, Samuel, Edward, Robert, Harry, Albert, David, Ernest, Herbert, Frank, Richard, Daniel and Benjamin.

These first names accounted for one in five of the population.

For females, the most common names were Elizabeth, Sarah, Mary Ann, Eliza, Emma, Mary, Alice, Emily, Ellen, Jane, Ann, Annie, Hannah, Louisa, Susan, Charlotte, Harriet, Martha, Maria, Ada, Kate, Caroline and Florence.

The project at the university's local history centre was set up following a request from the Science Museum in London to produce an interactive display showing maps of historic surname distribution.

The display is to be included in the museum's new millennium wing due to be opened to the public in 2000.

Dr Kevin Schurer, of the university's local history centre in the Department of History, said: "The key purpose of the display will be to demonstrate, using surnames, the extent to which gene pools in human population change over time and vary geographically.

"When finished, people visiting the display will be able to type in a surname and a map showing where people with that name lived in the past will be produced."

Funding for the research has come from the Science Museum and the university's research promotion fund.

A quick perusal of the Colchester and district phone book shows the times are a-changing. There are no Cracklings or Godsaves listed - but there are two each of Gozzetts and Gazzards.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.