Lonsdale

Recorded in a number of spellings including Landsdale, Langsdale, Lansdell, Londsdale, and Lonsdale, this is an English surname. It is locational from either of two places called Lonsdale, in the counties of Lancashire and Westmorland. The placenames are recorded as Lanesdale in the famous Domesday Book of 1086, the derivation being from the river name "Lune" plus the Old English pre 7th century word "dael" meaning a valley; and hence the "valley of the Lune". The surname is first found in the mid 13th Century, (see below), and other early examples include John de Lonesdale in the tax rolls known as the Feet of Fines for Yorkshire in the year 1301, and Thomas Lounsdale, in the Calendar of Inquisitiones Post Mortem, also for Yorkshire in 1419. Other recordings taken from the surviving registers of the diocese of Greater London include Elizabeth Lonsdale, who married Johnes Harryson at St. Andrew's church, Enfield, Middlesex, on October 15th 1564, and William Lansdell, whose daughter Elizabeth was christened at the famous church of St Mary-le-Bone, on January 14th 1759. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ralph de Lonisdale. This was dated 1260, in the Assize Court Rolls of Yorkshire, during the reign of King Henry 111rd of England, 1216 - 1272. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.