This unusual surname is of Norman origin, and is a locational name from Vauville, the name of places in Calvados and La Manche, so called from the Germanic personal name Walo meaning "foreigner", or else a short form of any of the various Germanic compound names, for example Walh(h)rafn, having "walh", foreigner, as an initial element, with the Old French "ville", settlement. The name was introduced into England after the Conquest of 1066, the earliest recorded namebearer (below), being a follower of William the Conqueror who had been granted lands in Devonshire. One Robert de Wavill was recorded in the Curia Regis Rolls of Lincolnshire, dated 1220, and a Henry de Wayvil, witness, was noted in the 1268 Assize Court Rolls of Somerset. Further early recordings include: Richard de Weavile and Henry de Wevile (Bedfordshire, 1279). In the modern idiom the name is spelt Wavell, Weavill, Wevell, and Wevill. On December 5th 1842, James Wevell and Elizabeth Colwell were married at St. Leonard's, Shoreditch, London. A Coat of Arms granted to the Wevell family is a silver shield with three fleurs-de-lis of the field on a black chevron. The fleur-de-lis is highly regarded as an attribute of royalty, each of the three leaves signifying, respectively, Faith, Wisdom and Valour. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William de Waluile, which was dated 1086, in the Domesday Book for Devonshire, during the reign of King William 1, known as "William the Conqueror", 1066 - 1087. 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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