Verrill

This unusual surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a dialectal variant of the locational name "Firle", from the place so called in Sussex, which is commonly pronounced as a dissyllable. The placename is first recorded in the Saxon Charters of circa 790 as "Firolaland", and in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Ferle". The placename means the oak-covered place, deriving from the Olde English pre 7th Century word "fierol" meaning "covered with oaks", cognate with the Old German "fereh-eih", meaning oak or beech. Variations in the spelling of the surname include Verrill(s), Verrall(s), Verrel(s), Verrell(s), and Verell(s). Recordings of the name from various Church Registers include the christening of John, son of Thomas Verrill, at Hinderwell, Yorkshire, on October 3rd 1686; and the marriage of Richard Verrill and Ann Heaver at East Malling in Kent, on December 1st 1691. The Coat of Arms most associated with the name depicts, on a white shield, a bull passant under an oak, on a green mound, all proper. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Verrall, which was dated May 15th 1557, marriage to Ann Peccam, in Kingston, near Lewes, Sussex, during the reign of Queen Mary 1, known as "Bloody Mary", 1553 - 1558. 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.