This surname, of Olde English origin, is also found recorded in the spellings Edsole, Edsell, Edsoll and even Edsoell, although the latter example, recorded in Westminster in 1609, seems to have a short life. There are two possible derivations, the first is early Saxon pre 10th Century. In this case the surname is a shortened form of the compound personal name "Edel-halle", which translates as "noble-rock", although strictly speaking "halle" is of Norse-Viking origins. The second possible origin is that the name is locational from a "lost" medieval village such as Eggesle in Oxfordshire, or Ede(n)hall in Cumberland, or from some unrecorded spot. What is also unusual is that the name spelling as Edsall has generally remained unchanged since Elizabethan times. Examples include; Katherine Edsall, who married John Simpson in London, on May 12th 1632, and Charles Edsall, who married Sarah Gold at the famous Church of St. Martin in the Fields, Westminster, also in London, on June 8th 1735. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Edsall, which was dated June 11th 1570, married at St. Giles' Church, Cripplegate, London, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, known as "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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