This very interesting surname is English, and probably locational from Cornwall. However as no definitive site has been found, unless it be Tremelling, near St Erth in Mid Cornwall, this remains unproven. What is known is that at least three thousand surnames of the British Isles are known to originate from 'lost' medieval villages, many of which were in the West Country. On that basis it seems a reasonable assumption that this is another to add to the growing list. The origin of the name which is certainly the case with Tremelling, would seem to be from the Olde English and Cornish pre 7th century word 'Tre' meaning place of, and 'melyn', a mill. Other explanations such as 'Trym-hyl', the hill by the river, or Trym-halh, the house by the river are also possible. The surname is recorded in a wide variety of spellings, another indication of a lost village, and these are believed to include Tremayle, Tremmel, Tremmell, Tremellan, Tremmil, Trimlin, Trimnell, Trumnell and Trimnill and others. Examples of recordings taken from surviving church registers include Paulus Tremmell at Kilkhampton, Devon, on February 27th 1545, whilst in th city of London Richard Trimnell, married at St Martins Eastcheap, on April 3rd 1597, and Sara Trymill married Georgie Adams at St. Lawrence Jewry, on May 14th 1629. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as the 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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