Tucker

The name "Tucker was a derivative from the Old English. It meant "To Tuck", "To Fill" and it meant "Courage" usually. It is referred to as a "Tucker", one who cleaned and thickened cloth.

Tucker has been used as a synonym for "O'Toucher", as Irish sect located in North Tipperary, well known throughout Ireland.

The early Tuckers settled in Devonshire and Kent and all the present Tuckers----good, bad and indifferent--may trace their earliest Anglo-Saxon locale to this area of Southeastern England. One of the early Tuckers, John Tucker, a brother of William Tucker, was given the estate of South Travistock in the County of Devonshire, and in 1079 the family was granted a coat-of-arms.

In 1538, Robert Tucker was alderman and mayor of the City of Exeter, and during the reign of Charles 1, George Tucker was a member of the "Warwick" party in the Virginia Company, and his son, George, Jr., emigrated to Bermuda.

The Tuckers in England have been distinguished people and have served their country well. They belong to that stock of middle class English. It has been said that they have Tudor blood in their veins. A frequent name in the family is that of Thomas Tudor Tucker.

The English Tuckers have lived in song and literature and have gained enviable positions in both civil and military government. Many of the Tucker women have married important persons. Nancy Tucker married General Lauzern, who was on Wellington's staff at Waterloo, and a long list of others. Nancy Tucker was a sister of St. George Tucker, who founded the branch of the family in Virginia. Raeburn's portrait of her is considered his masterpiece and is a valued possession of the Gallery in London.

Devonshire was the chief location of the most famous Tuckers in England. They were involved with Sir Francis Drake, Captain Hawkins and Sir Walter Raleigh. They also took part in the attack on the Spanish Armada.