Bleasdale

This unusual name is of Old Scandinavian origin and is a locational surname from the place called "Bleasdale" in Lancashire, in the Lake District. The placename is recorded in the Lancashire Close Rolls of 1228 as "Blesedale", and means "the bare spot on the hillside", derived from the Old Norse word "Blesi", a light spot or a blaze, used here in the sense of a cleared space or a variation in vegetation, with the Old Norse "dalr", Old English pre 7th Century "dael", meaning "valley". Locational surnames were usually given to the lord of the manor and to those former inhabitants who moved to another area. The modern surname can be found as "Bleasdale", "Blaisdale", "Blasdale" and "Blaisdell". The marriage of John Belasdale to Mabell Parke was recorded on the 11th June 1590 at Chipping, Lancashire. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Henry Bleasdale (christening), which was dated 1528, Bowland, North Whalley, Lancashire, during the reign of King Henry VIII, "Bluff King Hal", 1509 - 1547. 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.