This interesting and unusual surname, with variant spellings Spaule, Spoole, Spawell, and Spalls, recorded in English Church Registers from the early 17th Century, is of locational origin from any of the several places called St. Paul(s). These places include St. Paul, the name of parishes in Bedfordshire, Cornwall, Glasgow, and St. Paul's in London, and Edinburgh. The above foreshortened spellings result from regional and dialectal differences in pronunciation. 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, and subsequent variations on the original spelling. A Coat of Arms granted to one Thomas de St. Paule of Snarford, Lincolnshire, depicts a red lion rampant, double queued (tailed) and crowned gold, on a silver shield. On November 18th 1663, Elizabeth Spaule, an infant, was christened in St. Botolph without Aldgate, London, and on November 13th 1730, Sussnnah Spoole married a John Woodham in Stamford, Lincolnshire. The marriage of Robert Spall and Margaret Clark took place in St. Nicholas, Liverpool, Lancashire, on August 9th 1833. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Prudence Spall, which was dated August 13th 1630, christened at St. Botolph without Aldgate, London, during the reign of King Charles 1, known as "The Martyr", 1625 - 1649. 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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