This interesting surname of English origin is a locational name from a place so called in Lancashire, deriving from the Old English pre 7th Century personal name Beornard, composed of the elements "beorn" meaning "young warrior" plus "roed" "counsel" or "advice", plus "leah" "wood" or "clearing". The surname dates back to the late 13th Century, (see below). Variations in the idiom of the spelling include Beardsley, Beardslee, Bardsly, Bardesley, etc.. One, John Bardsley married Jone Hope on October 16th 1621, at St. Andrew by the Wardrobe, London. Martha, daughter of Thomas and Joane Bardley, was christened at St. Bartholomew the Great, London, on April 17th 1625, and Amey, daughter of Henry and Mary Bardsley, was christened at St. Mary Whitechapel, Stepney on May 14th 1629. One Sir James Lomax Bardsley (1801-1876), a physician was also president of the Royal Medical Society and published medical writings. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert de Bardesle, which was dated 1273, "The Subsidy Rolls of Oxfordshire", during the reign of King Edward 1, "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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.

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