Telling

this interesting and long-established surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and derives from the Olde English pre 7th Century personal byname "Tila", from "til", capable, with the addition of the Olde English pre 7th Century patronymic suffix "-ing", sons, descendants, or dependent men of . This personal name forms the first element of several placenames, including Tilbrook (Huntingdonshire), recorded as "Tilebroc" in the Domesday Book of 1086; Tilbury (Essex), appearing as "Til(l)aburg", circa 730 in Bede's "Historia ecclesiastica"; and Tilbury juxta Clare (Essex), noted as "Tylleberg" in 1254. "Tilla" and "Tille" (without surname) are recorded respectively in the 1246 Assize Court Rolls of Lancashire, and the 1325 Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield, Yorkshire, but by the Middle English period these names may also have originated as pet forms of the female given name Matilda, introduced into England by the Normans, and composed of the Germanic elements "maht", might, strength, and "hild", battle. One William Tyllying, witness, was noted in the 1280 Assize Court Rolls of Somerset. The surname, usually spelt Teeling, was introduced into Ireland following the Anglo-Norman Invasion of 1170, and is well recorded in County Meath from the 13th Century. Thomas Telyng, who participated in the Rising of Silken Thomas Fitzgerald, died in 1535, and on February 4th 1582, Anne Telling, an infant, was christened at St. Botolph's, Bishopsgate, London. The family Coat of Arms is a gold shield with two palets dancettee gules. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Tylling, which was dated 1279, in the "Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire", during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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.