This most interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a variant of "Harbottle", an English locational surname from a place so called in Northumberland. The place itself, located in the foothills of the Cheviots, derives its name from the Olde English pre 7th Century elements "hyra", a hireling, from "hyr", wages, reward, and "botl", dwelling. The placename appeared as "Hirbotle" circa 1220, in the Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland, and as "Hirebotel" in the Assize Court Rolls of 1279. During the Middle Ages, when migration for the purpose of job-seeking was becoming more common, people often took their former village name as a means of identification, thus resulting in a wide dispersal of the name. The surname was first recorded in the early 14th Century (see below), while one Thomas Hardebotyll was mentioned in 1513 in the Index of Wills proved in the Rochester Consistory Court (Wiltshire). John Hardbotle was christened on August 14th 1645 at Morpeth, Northumberland, and Tristan, son of Rich Hardbattle was christened at Kilnwick, Yorkshire, on March 14th 1656. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard de Herbotell, which was dated 1323, in the "Register of the Freemen of the City of York", during the reign of King Edward 11, known as "Edward of Caernafon", 1307 - 1327. 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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