Stowgill

This interesting and unusual name with variant spellings Stogill, Stowgill and Stoggles is of English locational origin from one of the estimated seven to ten thousand villages and hamlets that have now disappeared from map in Britain. The prime cause of these "disappearances" was the enforced "clearing" and dispersal of the former inhabitants to make way for sheep pastures at the height of the wool trade in the 14th Century. Natural causes such as the Black Death (1348) also contributed to this phenomenon. The original place was probably located on the east coast of England as church recordings of the surname are found in Norfolk and Suffolk. The placename itself is composed of the old English "Stocc", tree trunk or plank bridge, plus the Nors "Gil", ravine, hence "a ravine cleared of tree trunks or a bridging point across a ravine". Thomas Stoggell married Judith Waller on September 5th 1630 at St. Dunstan's, Stepney, London while Thomas, son of Richard and Ann Stogill was christened on March 3rd 1660. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Mante Stogall, married Rycherd Wellham, which was dated 1586, in the Church Records at Raydon, Suffolk, 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.