Contents [hide]

Crooks History Etymology Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Ireland United States Australia New Zealand West Indies

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Suggested Reading Sources

Crooks History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Scotland
Ireland
England

Etymology of Crooks

What does the name Crooks mean?

The name Crooks was first used by Viking settlers in ancient Scotland. It was a name for a crooked person. A broad and miscellaneous class of surnames, nickname surnames referred to a characteristic of the first person who used the name. They can describe the bearer's favored style of clothing, appearance, habits, or character. This nickname was originally derived from the Old Norman word crok which meant "hook" or "something crooked." While this origin can be expected, more accurately, the name was for someone "who came from Crook (hill, or bend of a river), the name of several places in England and Scotland." 1

Early Origins of the Crooks family

The surname Crooks was first found in Westmorland at Crook, a chapelry, in the parish, union, and ward of Kendal 2 of at Crook, a hamlet in the parish of Shevington, Lancashire. We find the earliest record of the family at the latter location. Specifically, the Lay Subsidy Rolls of 1332 list William del Crok there at that time. 3

Kirby's Quest lists Kohn de Cruk in Somerset, 1 Edward III (during the first years of King Edward III's reign.) 4

Later the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 listed: Johannes de Crake; Thomas de Crokes; and Johanna de Crekes. 3

Moving further north into Scotland, two of the first entries were Malcolm Crok and Robert Cruk of Fingaldestone, Lanarkshire, who both rendered homage to King Edward I in his conquest of Scotland. A few years later, a benefice was reserved to Adam Croke of the diocese of St. Andrew in 1329 and John Cruke was a tenant in Garvalde under the Douglas in 1376. 5

Early History of the Crooks family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Crooks research. Another 138 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1560, 1562, 1574, 1575, 1576, 1582, 1591, 1617, 1635, 1641, 1649, 1674, 1699 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Crooks History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Crooks Spelling Variations

The spellings of Scottish names dating from the medieval era often bear little resemblance to those seen today. They vary enormously because scribes in that time spelled according to their ears. Some spelling variations of the name Crooks include Crook, Crooke, Crooks, Cruik, Cruiks, Crok, Cruke, Crukes, Cruikes and many more.

Early Notables of the Crooks family

Notable amongst the Clan from early times was Andrew Crooke (died 1674) and William Cooke (died 1641) who were London publisher partners who published significant texts of English Renaissance drama, most notably of the plays of James Shirley.Thomas Crooke (fl. 1582), was an English divine, matriculated at Trinity College, Cambridge, in May 1560, where he was elected scholar 1562, and afterwards fellow, proceeded B.A. 1562. 6Samuel Crooke (1575-1649), was an...
Another 70 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Crooks Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Crooks Ranking

In the United States, the name Crooks is the 3,029^th most popular surname with an estimated 9,948 people with that name. 7

Migration of the Crooks family to Ireland

Some of the Crooks family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 60 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Crooks migration to the United States +

The farms of Scottish settlers soon dotted the east coast of the colonies that would become the nations of the United States and Canada. Many of those migrants and their children went on to play important roles in the founding the great nations of North America. Early North American immigration records have revealed a number of people bearing the Scottish name Crooks or a variant listed above, including:

Crooks Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Benham Crooks, who arrived in New York in 1804 8
Benjam Crooks, aged 11, who landed in New York, NY in 1804 8
Jane Crooks, aged 50, who arrived in New York, NY in 1804 8
Margaret Crooks, who arrived in New York in 1804 8
Sarni Crooks, who landed in New York in 1804 8
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Crooks migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Crooks Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

John Crooks, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1749-1752

Crooks Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Margaret Crooks, who landed in Nova Scotia in 1813
Miss. Catherine Crooks, aged 1 who was emigrating through Grosse Isle Quarantine Station, Quebec aboard the ship "Free Trader" departing 22nd June 1847 from Liverpool, England; the ship arrived on 14th August 1847 but she died on board 9

Crooks migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Crooks Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. William Crooks, English convict who was convicted in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Eliza" on 25th June 1828, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 10
Mary Ann Crooks, English convict from London, who was transported aboard the "Arab" on December 14, 1835, settling in Van Diemen's Land, Australia 11
Mr. John Crooks, English convict who was convicted in Stafford, Staffordshire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Elphinstone" on 27th May 1837, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 12
David Crooks, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Dauntless" in 1840 13
Mr. Walter Crooks, British Convict who was convicted in Quebec, Canada for 14 years, transported aboard the "Candahar" on 26th March 1842, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 14
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Crooks migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Crooks Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mrs. Mary Crooks, (b. 1825), aged 31, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Joseph Fletcher" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 24th October 1856 15
Mr. Henry Crooks, (b. 1828), aged 28, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Joseph Fletcher" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 24th October 1856 15
Mrs. Elizabeth Crooks, (b. 1832), aged 28, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Gananoque" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 9th May 1860 15
Mr. Robert Crooks, (b. 1838), aged 22, British gardener travelling from London aboard the ship "Gananoque" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 9th May 1860 15
Francis Crooks, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "British Empire" in 1880 16
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Crooks (post 1700) +

William Crooks, American Colonel of the Minnesota Volunteers' Sixth Regiment during the American Civil War, eponym of the William Crooks, a 4-4-0 steam locomotive, the first locomotive to operate in the U.S. state of Minnesota
N. Patrick Crooks (1938-2015), American jurist, Associate Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court (1996-2015)
George Richard Crooks (1822-1897), United States writer, educator, and Methodist minister
Arthur Crooks (1838-1888), English-American architect
Dave Crooks, former American member of the Indiana House of Representatives
Shanna Crooks, American singer/songwriter
John Charles "Jack" Crooks (1865-1918), American Major League Baseball infielder
Richard Alexander Crooks (1900-1972), American tenor and a leading singer
Hulda Crooks (1896-1997), American mountaineer who successfully scaled 14,505-foot Mount Whitney 23 times between the ages of 65 and 91 as well as 97 other peaks during this period
Ramsay Crooks (1787-1859), Scottish immigrant to Canada who worked in a trading post on the Great Lakes and later helped W. Price Hunt to organize and lead an overland trip to Astoria in the Oregon Country for John Jacob Astor in 1809
... (Another 19 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Crooks family +

RMS Lusitania

Mr. Robert Williams Crooks, English 1st Class Passenger residing in Toronto, Ontario, Canada going to Liverpool, England, who sailed aboard the RMS Lusitania (1915) and died in the sinking and was recovered 17

Sources +

Smith, Eldson Coles, New Dictionary of American Family Names New York: Harper & Row, 1956. Print
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Dickinson, F.H., Kirby's Quest for Somerset of 16th of Edward the 3rd London: Harrison and Sons, Printers in Ordinary to Her Majesty, St, Martin's Lane, 1889. Print.
Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Charbonneau, André, and Doris Drolet-Dubé. A Register of Deceased Persons at Sea and on Grosse Île in 1847. The Minister of Canadian Heritage, 1997. ISBN: 0-660-198/1-1997E (p. 71)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 17th February 2022). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/eliza
State Library of Queensland. (Retrieved 2015, January 8) Arab voyage to Van Diemen's Land, Australia in 1835 with 132 passengers. Retrieved from http://www.convictrecords.com.au/ships/arab/1835
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 18th March 2022). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/elphinstone
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) DAUNTLESS 1840. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1840Dauntless.htm
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 9th December 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/candahar
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 12th November 2011). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
Lusitania Passenger List - The Lusitania Resource. (Retrieved 2014, March 6) . Retrieved from http://www.rmslusitania.info/lusitania-passenger-list/