This is a locational name which derives either from the village of Bardwell or from residence by a spring (waella) on a bank (bred) Olde English pre 7th Century A.D.. The village name is first recorded in the Domesday Book (1086) as 'Beordewella' and later in 1197 as Berdewella. The surname has many variant spellings, these include Bardwall, Barsdale, Bearsdale, Beardall, Bordall, Bardwell and Bowerdell, the name recordings include Joane Berdale who married Francis Fielde at St. Lukes, Chelsea in 1564, John Beardall christened at St. Mary Abchurch, London in 1617, and Kathe Brirdall recorded at St. Giles Cripplegate in 1646 in the time of Oliver Cromwell. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Tedricus de Berdewella, which was dated 1190, the Pipe Rolls of Suffolk County, during the reign of King Richard I, 'The Lionheart', 1189 - 1199. 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.