Brimelow

This unusual and interesting name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational surname deriving from the place called Bromlow in Shropshire. The placename has generated a number of variant surnames, as the bearers of the name moved to other areas and dialectal differences produced varying phonetic spellings, among them Bromilow, Brumloe, Brimelow and Bromblow. The original placename is recorded as "Bromlawe" in the 1255 Shropshire Hundred Rolls, and means "the broom-covered hill", derived from the Olde English pre 7th Century "brom", broom, with "hlaw, hlaew", low hill, mound. The surname development includes: Edward Bromblow (1549, Shropshire); Joane Bromeloe (1567, Cheshire); Richard Bromnloe (1578, ibid.); Anne Bromelow (1576, ibid.); and William Brumlow (1583, Shropshire). The marriage of John Brimelow and Ann Bailey was recorded at St. Mary's, Staffordshire, on November 25th 1790. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Bromlowe, which was dated May 28th 1534, marriage to Helenora Marsh, at Church Pulverbath, Shropshire, during the reign of King Henry V111, known as "Good King Hal2, 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.