Bonsall

This is a locational name which originally derived from the village of Bonsall, near Matloch in Derbyshire. The name is Norse-Viking, pre 10th Century and translates as 'Beorns-Halh' - with 'Beorn' being a personal name meaning 'Hero' and 'Halh' a piece of cultivated land - a farm. Locational names were originally given to the Lord of the Manor or as a means of identification to those who left their place of birth to seek work elsewhere. The original Lords of the Manor seem to have gravitated to Wales, the name being recorded heraldically from the Welsh Towns, Abereystwith and LLanrin, near Montgomery, the Coat of Arms being, Silver, with an Ermine Border, charged with three chrystals on a red fesse. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Thomas Bonsall. which was dated C. 1799, Fronfraith, Aberystwith. during the reign of King George 111, known as 'Farmer George', 1760 - 1820. 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.