This name in its modern spelling is not apparently recorded in its native county of Cornwall. It is probably a developed form of the Cornish topographical "Penro", one who dwelt at the Hart's Head, from the Ancient British, "Penn" meaning "head or top" and "heorot", a hart or deer. If any such place actually existed in the West Country, we have no proof, but as some seven thousand medieval hamlets are now "lost" this is not surprising. However, our research also indicates that the name could be a developed form of the Spanish "Pinero" found in England as early as 1618 as Penrow, and later in "Huguenot" form as Pinheiro, one Joseph Pinheiro being a witness at Christchurch, Spitalfields, London on January 13th 1788. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Penrrow, which was dated January 1st 1710, a witness at St. Gerrans, Cornwall, during the reign of Queen Anne, "The Last Stuart Monarch", 1702 - 1714. 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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