This interesting surname is of English locational origin from a place thus called in Lancashire, recorded as "Burnhull" in the 1206 Pipe Rolls. The placename derives from the Old English pre 7th Century "burna" a brook or stream plus "hyll" a hill; hence "hill by a stream". Locational names were originally given as a means of identification to those who left their village or place of origin to settle elsewhere. The surname is first recorded in the mid 16th Century, (see below). In the modern idiom the surname has many variant spellings including Brindill, Brindhull, Brindell, Brindel, etc.. Recordings of the surname from the Lancashire church registers include; the marriage of Elizabeth Brindill and William Heald, which took place on January 26th 1551, at Chorley; the christening of Roger, son of James Brindle, took place on July 4th 1563, in the same place; John Brindle and Marie Gelibrond were also married at Chorley, on January 20th 1574; and the marriage of Ann Brindle and William Keerfoot took place in Croston, on February 21st 1584. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Brindill, who married Katheryn Aynscow, which was dated January 17th 1550, at Chorley, Lancashire, during the reign of King Edward V1, "The Boy King", 1547 - 1553. 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.