This interesting surname has a number of possible origins. Firstly, it may be of English locational origin from Battle, in Suffolk, recorded as "La batailge" in the Domesday Book of 1086, which got its name from being the site of the Battle of Hastings (1066). The name may also be of topographical origin, for a dweller by the site of any major battle. It may also be of French or English Occupational origin deriving from the Old French "de la bataile" meaning (man) of the battle-array or warrior. The surname is first recorded in the mid 12th Century, (see below). One, William de la Bataille, is noted in the 1196 Northamptonshire Curia Regis Rolls, and Simon le Batel, appears in the 1327 Subsidy Rolls of Sussex. In the modern idiom the surname has many variant spellings including Battell, Battle, Battaille, Battill, Batalle, etc.. Recordings of the surname from the Ockbrook church registers, Derbyshire include; the christening of Anna Johanna, daughter of William and Mary Batelle, which took place on February 16th 1752; on January 3rd 1763, Thomas Battelle married Mary Sharwin; and William son of William and Elizabeth Battelle, was christened on May 15th 1763. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Hubert Bataile, which was dated 1140, in a Descriptive Catalogue of Ancient Deeds, Essex, during the reign of King Stephen, known as "Count of Blois", 1135 - 1154. 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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