Redhills

Recorded in many forms including Redhole, Redhill, Redhills, Redholes, Redholls, Ridhole, and even Redhold, this is an English surname. It originates from one of the various villages called Redhill or Red Hill in the counties of Somerset, Surrey, and Warwickshire, or from some now "lost" medieval village of a similar spelling. The name describes the red sand and ironstone clay soils found in various parts of the country, and being a locational or topographical surname it is also a "from" name. That is to say a name which was usually given to a person when he or sometimes she, left their original homestead and moved to another place. It was then, and it often remains so today, that one of the easiest ways to identify a stranger, was to call this person by the name of the place from whence they came. Spelling being at best indifferent, and local accents very thick, soon lead to the developement of "sounds like" spellings. In this case early examples of the surname recording taken from various surviving church registers include: George Ridhall, a witness at Lapford in Devonshire, on May 13th 1584, Richard Redhill, at St Botolphs, Bishopgate, in the city of London, on January 12th 1640, Samuel Ridhole at Crediton, Devon, on June 2nd 1702, and Mary Ann Redholes at St Pancras Old Church, city of London, on February 28th 1847.