This unusual name is of Cornish origin and is an example of the many Cornish surnames that appear to be topographical but in fact, probably derive from lost or unrecorded placenames. The "lost" village that disappears from the maps and survives only in a modern-day surname is a not an uncommon phenomenon, villages were "cleared" and their populations dispersed especially during the 14th Century when land for sheep pasture was at a premium. The name "Trythall" or "Trethaqll" meaning "the settlement in the remote valley", from the Cornish "tre", meaning "homestead" or "settlement", plus the Old English pre 7th Century "halh", meaning a recess or remote valley. One "Edwardus Trythall" was christened at Gulival in March 1603. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Trythall, married Margaret (surname not recorded), which was dated 1st September 1593, Madron, Cornwall, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Good Queen Bess, 1558 - 1603. 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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