Welcome to the Restorick Family Society

RESTOWRACK FARM - THE ORIGIN OF OUR SURNAME

The origin of the surname RESTARICK (from which RESTORICK and RESTRICK come) is RESTOWRACK FARM in St Dennis, Cornwall. The farm is shown on the 1:25,000 scale Ordnance Survey map sheet number SW95 (Nanpean) in grid square SW 9457. RESTOWRACK is also shown on Thomas Martyn’s map of 1741. Mention of it is first found in 1212 (Red Book of the Exchequer, Volume II, page 612) and over the years it has been variously spelt: 

ROSTOUREC in 1278, 1293, 1311;
RESDOUREK in 1357, 1370;
RESTOWRACK in 1559 and 1618.

The name comes from the Cornish words "ROS", meaning "heath" or "hill-spur", and "DOWRAK", meaning "watery", which describes Restowrack perfectly - being part of the china clay area inland from St Austell. In 1496 mention is made of tin and stone being quarried in Restowrack Manor. It would appear that the china clay was not mined until 1798 and one of the companies still holds the title of "Goonvean and Rostowrack", taking its name from the area. 

The farm passed out of the family on the marriage of Margaret, daughter and heiress of Ralph Restorake, to John Petit of Ardevora in the early 15th century. It is interesting that Ardevora forms a triangle with Philleagh and Ruan Lanihorne, and that Petit’s granddaughter married Thomas Trevanion of Carhays, the latter three places all being where our surname is found in the 16th and 17th centuries. (See John Norden’s 1610 map of POWDER HUNDRED.) The farm today is overshadowed by a china clay works and Restowrack Downs to the south of the farm is completely covered with these works. 

Surnames became necessary when the Normans introduced national taxation to England in the form of a poll tax, and the written word was uncommon so that those who did write anything down did it in their own unique way! Likewise, they wrote what they heard, and as the family moved around their individual accents or manner of speaking influenced the way the listener interpreted the name. This is how the various spellings have evolved.

The Restorick Family Society would be really interested to hear from anybody researching the family name or with any connection with the Restorick family. Please email us at  JLIB_HTML_CLOAKING