This unusual and interesting name has two possible origins, the first of which is from an early medieval occupational surname for someone employed as a servant at "the hall", at a manor house. The derivation is from the Olde English pre 7th "sael", hall, in Middle English "sale", reinforced by the Old French form "salle", introduced by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066. The second possible origin is either topographical or locational, from the Olde English "salh", Middle English "sale", meaning sallow tree, a kind of low-growing willow. The topographical form denotes residence by a sallow tree, and the locational is from a place named with the word such as "Sale" in Greater Manchester. James Sale was married to Ann Burbery on the 8th November 1652 at St. Martin in the Fields, London. A notable bearer of the name was John Bernard Sale (1779 - 1856), organist of St. Margaret's, Westminster, 1809, and at the Chapel Royal, London, 1838. In 1826 he was employed as teacher of singing to Princess (afterwards Queen) Victoria, 1826. A Coat of Arms granted to the Sale family of London is divided quarterly red and gold, with a gold tower in the dexter chief and sinister bare quarters. A demi chevallier brandishing a sword all proper is on the Crest. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert de la Sale, which was dated 1243, witness in the "Assize Court Rolls of Somerset", during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. 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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