This unusual name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and is a locational surname from either "Windhill" in West Yorkshire or "Windle" in Lancashire. The placenames are first recorded as "Windhill" (1208) and "Windhull" (1201), respectively and both share the same meaning and derivation, which is "a windy hill, one exposed to fierce gusts of wind", derived from the Old English pre 7th Century "wind", wind, and "hyll", hill or mound. The surname may sometimes be topographical in origin, denoting residence on or by "a windy hill". The modern surname has three forms, Windle, Windell and Wintle, the latter being originally peculiar to the county of Gloucestershire. One John Wintle married Anne Byfield on October 16th 1699 at St. Stephen and St. Benet's Church in London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Alan de Windhull, which was dated 1201, The Pipe Rolls of Lancashire, during the reign of King John, known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. 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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