Recorded as Tangley, Tingley, Tandley, Tindley and even Tundley, this is an English surname. It is locational and either from Tingley, a village between Leeds and Wakefield in West Yorkshire, or from Tindale in Cumberland, or from a now 'lost' medieval site possibly called Tinn-leah or similar. It would seem that both the 'g' and the 'd' in the place name and the surname spellings are what is called 'intrusive'. They were added in the late medieval period either to aid pronunication, or simply because they were spelt wrongly! The origin of the names appears to be the Olde English pre 7th century word 'tinn' which could mean a river as in the River Tyne, or may be a short form of the ancient 'tynincel' meaning a small farm house, in a 'leah'. That was an area of forest cleared for agriculture. An early example of the recordings is that of Elene Tyngyl in the Pipe Rolls for Yorkshire in the year 1424, whilst Elizabeth Tingley married Miles Spencer at Howden, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, on August 14th 1627. Cathrin Tingly married Joseph Hodges on November 23rd 1739 inthe city of London by special licence whilst, John Tindley married Barbara Bartram at St Botolphs Bishopgate, also in the city of London, on September 14th 1772. The first recorded spelling of the family name is probably that of Ricardus Tynghyll. This was dated 1379, in the Poll Tax Returns of Yorkshire, during the reign of King Richard 11nd, known as 'Richard of Bordeaux' 1377 - 1399. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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