Keedwell

This is an Olde English locational name which derives from "Cy-dael" meaning "the Cattle valley" or "Cy- Waella" - the drinking place (spring) of the Cattle. It is probable that such a place or places once existed but if so we have been unable to prove their original site. The name is well documented under a wide variety of alternative spellings, suggesting that a wholesale clearance took place of the original site probably as a result of sheep farming or plague. The name recordings include Frances Kedwell, christened at the Church of St. Lawrence Pountney, London on April 20th 1600, Judith Kidwell who married Peter Cathu on July 13th 1676 at St. Dunstans, and the rare Keedwell, a later recording on June 20th 1872 when Mary Jane Keedwell married F.W. Medhurst at Friern Barnet Church. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Abraha Kidwell, which was dated January 19th 1564, christened at St. Mary Whitechapel, London, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, known as "Good Queen Bess", 1558 - 1603. 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.