Lerwill

Recorded as Larwell, Larwill, Lerwell, Lerwill, Lerriwell, Lorrowell, and possibly others, this is an English locational surname. Unfortunately though we have not been able to identify such as place in any of the surviving maps and gazetters of the past three centuries. From the name spelling we consider that the place name may translate as the "poor spring" from the Old English pre 7th century "lyre - waella." If the spring was poor, and the inhabitants relied upon it for their water, it may have been a good reason why they packed up and moved on. This may also account for the variety of spellings of the surname, as this is often the case with locational surnames. These were names given to people after they left their original homes to move somewhere else. Going back four centuries or more, few people could write even fewer could spell accurately, and local accents were very thick. This lead to the creation of "sounds like" versions of the majority of surnames. When in addition the place itself had "disappeared" there was no means of checking. At least three thousand surnames of the British Isles are from lost places, and this seems no exception. Examples of the name recordings in the registers of the city of London include William Lerriwell at St Dunstans Stepney, on November 18th 1610, and yet within two years, and at the same church, we have the recording of the same William but now recorded as Larwell, whose daughter Abigale was christened on June 1st 1612,