Yeowell

The pre-medieval family marked their calendar by event days such as Christmas, Easter and Michaelmas. This was particularly so with births, and children born on Christmas Day were often named 'Yule' or the later 'Noel'. These personal names developed into later surnames and in this case a surname with at least fourteen alternative spellings including Youle, Yule, Youell, Yoewell, Yuill, Yuile etc.. The name recordings include William Yoel of Wakefield (1297), Robert Youle in the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379, Rosamund Yewell of Westminster in 1593, Francis Youell who married at St. Giles Church, Cripplegate in 1732 whilst in 1641, on March 25th, Elizabeth Yeowell, the daughter of Gregory and Elizabeth Yeowell was christened at St. Andrews Church, Holborn. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Yul, which was dated 1199, The County Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire, during the reign of King Richard I, The Lionheart, 1189 - 1199. 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.