This very rare name is a variant form of the more usual "Gostellow", which is itself a vernacular formof the locational surname "Gorstella", from the place so called in Cheshire. The placename is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and means "the gorse-covered hill", derived from the Old English pre 7th Century elements "gors(t)" - gorse, with "hyll", - hill and "hlaw" - mound. Locational surnames were usually given to the Lord of the Manor and especially to those former inhabitants of a place who left to live or work in another area. On the 4th of July 1819, the marriage between Samuel Gostall and mary Slack was recorded at Gawsworth in Cheshire. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Margery Gostale, which was dated 18th October 1603, marriage to John Croftes, Carlton le Moorland, Lincolnshire, during the reign of King James I of England and VI of Scotland, 1603 - 1625. 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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