This interesting and unusual name is of English origin and is topographical for a person who lived by a willow copse. The derivation of this surname is from the Olde English pre 7th Century word 'atle' dweller at, with 'sele' a willow copse, or 'salh', willow. It is probable that his name is not confined to one particular area of the country as there is likely to be many such places of this description throughout the length and breath of the land. There are two famous name bearers listed in the National Biography. These are father and son William senior (below) who published religion treatise, and occupied a 'living' in Sussex for forty years and his son, whose clerical career was cut short in 1662! Also one Samuel Attersoll is on Record in St. Georges, Mayfair, Westminster as marrying Hannah Rawlins on 23rd December 1744. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Attersoll, which was dated circa 1582, Cambridgeshire, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Good Queen Bess, 1558 - 1603. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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