Mundwell

Recorded in several spelling forms including Mandeville, Manville, Manvell, Manwell, and the Scottish dialectals Mundell, Mundle, Mundwell and Mundall, this uncommon is recorded in both England and Scotland. It is of Norman-French origins, and was introduced into Britain after the Conquest of 1066. It is a locational surname deriving from any of the various places in France called "Manneville or Magneville", named, from the Old Germanic personal name "Manno" or the Old French adjective "magne", great, with the word "ville", meaning a town or settlement. The Latinized form of this locational surname is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, when Goisfridus de Magna Uilla was listed as or owning an estate in the county of Essex. The first of the name in Scotland was Gilbert Mandewel, a juror on an inquest held at Traqueyr in 1274, whilst Sir Henry de Mundeville rendered homage to the Scottish parliament in 1296. Other recordings include Henry Mundwell of Wigtown in 1498, and Robert Mundell a tenant of the barony of Mousewall in 1673. Among the recordings of the name in church registers are the marriage of John Mundle and Mary Ann Medcalf at St. Luke's, Chelsea, on August 1st 1795, and the birth of John Mundle on August 12th 1857, in Kirkpatrick-Fleming, Dumfriesshire. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ernulf de Mandeuill. This was dated 1158, in the Pipe Rolls of Wiltshire, during the reign of King Henry 11nd of England, 1154 - 1189. 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.