Catchpole is an uncommon

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

, being a type of

tax collector A tax collector (also called a taxman) is a person who collects unpaid taxes from other people or corporations. The term could also be applied to those who audit tax returns. Tax collectors are often portrayed as being evil, and in the modern wo ...

in medieval England. The name is a combination of

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

(cace-, catch) and

medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...

(pullus, a chick). It derives from the image that people who owed tax were as difficult to catch as farmyard hens.World Wide Words
Issue 825: 30 March 2013, 'Catchpole' The Catchpole name is from

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, southern England. At that time, tax-gathering was contracted out, a system called tax farming. The catchpole paid a lump sum to be authorised to collect taxes from a given area or population, and was then able to keep whatever he could extract, using almost any method he came up with. Later, the duties of the 'catchpole' were those of a legal official, working for the

bailiff A bailiff (from Middle English baillif, Old French ''baillis'', ''bail'' "custody") is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. Bailiffs are of various kinds and their offi ...

. He was mainly responsible for collecting debts, using methods hardly more restrained than those of his tax gathering forebears. The suggestion that the name derives from a long wooden

pole Pole may refer to: Astronomy *Celestial pole, the projection of the planet Earth's axis of rotation onto the celestial sphere; also applies to the axis of rotation of other planets *Pole star, a visible star that is approximately aligned with the ...

with a noose or barbed fork on one end, used to apprehend those who owed money, is incorrect. However 'catchpole' is the name of such a tool, used still today, mostly by animal control officials to ensnare uncontrolled animals such as aggressive dogs.

Notable people with this surname

Brent Catchpole Brent Catchpole is a New Zealand politician. He is a member of New Zealand First and served as president of the party. Professional life Before entering politics, Catchpole worked first as an accountant and then as a marketing director for a tou ...

, New Zealand politician *

Hugh Catchpole Hugh Catchpole CBE HI (26 May 1907 – 1 February 1997) was a British educationist and philanthropist, mostly active in British India, and later India and Pakistan. He was a teacher and administrator in military colleges and schools such as Pri ...

, academician and administrator *

George Catchpole George Joseph Catchpole (born 22 January 1994) is an English retired professional rugby union player. During his career he played 17 times for Leicester Tigers between 2013 and 2018, as well as appearing for Nottingham and Doncaster. Catchpole ...

(born 1994), British rugby player *

Henry Catchpole (disambiguation) Henry Catchpole may refer to: * Henry Catchpole (fl. 1361–1386), MP for Hereford 1361–1386 * Henry Catchpole (fl. 1390), MP for Hereford in 1390, son of the above {{Hndis, Catchpole, Henry ...

, multiple people *James Morrison Catchpole, birth name of English singer-songwriter James Morrison *

Jordan Catchpole Jordan Michael Catchpole (born 5 October 1999) is a British Paralympic swimmer from Beccles. He won gold in the mixed freestyle relay S14 at the 2020 Summer Paralympics. Diagnosed with autism, his coach is Tim Millett and he is a member of Te ...

(born 1999), British Paralympic swimmer *

Judith Catchpole Judith Catchpole, a young maidservant in colonial America, was tried in 1656 for witchcraft and infanticide before one of the earliest all-female juries in the United States. According to popular belief, all-female juries did not occur until much ...

, colonial American maidservant *

Ken Catchpole Kenneth William Catchpole (21 June 1939 – 21 December 2017) was an Australian rugby union footballer. A New South Wales Waratahs, state and Australia national rugby union team, national representative half-back, he played twenty-seven matche ...

(1939–2017), Australian rugby player *

Margaret Catchpole Margaret Catchpole (14 March 1762 – 13 May 1819) was a Suffolk servant girl, chronicler and deportee to Australia. Born in Suffolk, she worked as a servant in various houses before being convicted of stealing a horse and later escaping from Ips ...

, British deportee to Australia *

Thomas Catchpole (disambiguation) Thomas Catchpole may refer to: * Thomas Catchpole (fl. 1361-1389), MP for Hereford (UK Parliament constituency) * Thomas Catchpole (fl. 1390), MP for Hereford (UK Parliament constituency) Hereford was, until 2010, a constituency of the House o ...

, multiple people

In fiction

* Eric Catchpole, character in the British series ''Lovejoy''

References

{{surname, Catchpole English-language surnames