Dinsdale

This most interesting surname is of English locational origin from places called "Low Dinsdale" in Durham, recorded "Ditneshall" in the Early Yorkshire Charters (circa 1185) and "Over Dinesdale", in Yorkshire, appearing as "Digneshale" in the Domesday Book of 1086. These places are opposite each other on the Tees. The placename derives from the Anglo-Saxon "Dictunes-halh" meaning "the haugh belonging to Deighton". "Dictunes", is the nearby town of Dighton, which means "village by a ditch or surrounded by a moat, with "halh", indicating flat land by a river. Early recordings of the surname include the following: Robert Dinsdale was christened at the church of St. Lawrence, Pountney, London, on May 12th 1555; Margery, daughter of Robert Dynsdale who was christened on May 5th 1558 at St. Martin Ludgate, London; while one Katherine Dinsdayle was christened on May 30th, 1576 at St. John Ousebridge in Yorkshire. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Dinsdale M. Agnes Pawfreman which was dated November 22nd 1555, at Wensley, Yorkshire, during the reign of King Edward V1, known as "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.