Shergold

Recorded as Shergill, Shergoll, Shergold, Shirgold and possibly others, this is an English medieval surname.The famous Victorian etymologist Canon Charles Bardsley writing in 1880 considered that it originated in the county of Wiltshire, and we have no reason to challenge this view. Our research indicates that the name is probably Anglo-Saxon from the 8th century a.d., and a development of "scir-geld" with scir meaning bright, and geld, gold. If this is so, then the name was baptismal, and typical of English or Saxon names before the Norman Conquest of 1066. At this time hereditary surnames did not exist, and compounds with two or more elements were often created. However there is also a possibility that the name relates to a 'lost' medieval village perhaps called Scirgill, meaning plesant valley. Early examples of the surname recordings taken from surviving church recordings include Edward Shergoll of Acton in the city of London, on May 17th 1573, Elizabeth Shergould, christened at St Margaret's, Westminster on June 3rd 1599, Robert Shergill who married Eliza Compton at St James church, Dukes Place, Westminster, on October 27th 1690, and George Shergold, who married Mary Simmons at St Mary Magdalene, city of London, on August 7th 1713. The first recorded spelling of the family name may be that of William Shergall. This was dated 1552, in the register of Broad Chalke, Wiltshire and during the reign of King Edward 1V. He was known as 'The boy king', and reigned for seven years from 1547 - 1554 when he died aged seventeen. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as the Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.