This interesting and unusual surname, recorded in English church registers under the variant spelling Pringley, is believed to be a late development of the Scottish locational name Pringle. The earlier form of this surname was Hoppringle or Hopringle from the old lands of that name near Stow in Roxburghshire, so called from the Old English pre 7th Century "hop", an enclosed valley, plus "(h)ringle", a circular lake. The surname from this source was first recorded in the mid 13th Century, (see below). One, Elys de Obrinkle of Edinburghshire, rendered homage in 1296, and a John Pryngel of Fife was noted in the "Chartulary of Saint Craiglatch had crown leases of Craiglateh during the period 1485-1490. The forms Pringley and Prangley result from the pronunciation of "Pringle" as "Pring-le(e)". In 1734, Peter Pringley and Sarah Tingley were married in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, and on November 27th 1768, Mary Ann, daughter of Robert Prangley, was christened in St. Martin in the Fields, Westminster, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Sir Robert de Hoppryngil, witness to a gift, which was dated circa 1265, in the "Charters of the Hospital of Soltre", during the reign of Alexander 111 of Scotland, 1249 - 1286. 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.