This is a dialectally transposed locational name "of the Rylands" from two places thus called. The first, Rylands in Lancashire, the second, Rylands in the parish of Wilmslow, Cheshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon pre 8th century "rhy" or "rhee" - a water course or stream and "lands" - the lands adjoining the stream. The name changed from Rylands to Rylance and inevitably to Roylance. In 1686 a farmer, Thomas Rylands or Rylance, of Warmincham and Chester was twice sued for tithe by his vicar. In the modern idiom the name has five spelling variations: Ryland(s), Roylance, Rylance and Rawlence.The Coat of Arms most associated with the family has the blazon of a quartered shield, the 1st and 4th, per fess dancettee gold and red; the 2nd and 3rd, ermine, on a blue fess a griffin passant between two gold fleur-de-lis. The Crest being a blue demi lion rampant, on the shoulder with a bezant charged with a fleur-de-lis, with the motto; Dum spiro spero translating as "While I have breath I hope". The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert del Ruylondes, of West Halghton, which was dated 1327, in the "Rylands of the Rylands within West Houghton, County Lancashire" by J.P. Rylands, during the reign of King Edward 111, known as "The Father of the Navy" 1327 - 1377. 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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