Recorded as Brinklow, Brinkloe, Bringloe, and probably others, this is an English surname. It is locational from a place called Brinklow in the county of Warwickshire. First recorded as Brichelawa in the year 1130, and as Brinkelawe in the Pipe Rolls of the countyin 1201, the name derives from the Olde English pre 7th century word "brince" meaning the brink of a hill or steep slope, plus "hlaw", a steep hill or possibly an ancient burial mound. The surname is first recorded towards the end of the 12th Century, (see below), and particularly so in the surviving church registers of the city of London from the mid 16th century. These recordings include examples such as William Brincklow, who was christened on November 15th 1540 at St. Lawrence Jewry, Milk street, and on October 8th 1593, that of Agnes Brinckloe and George Milborne who were married at St. Dunstan's in the East, Stepney. One of the earliest recordings of the surname in Warwickshire was the christening of Alice Brincklow in Corley, on August 3rd 1611. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William de Brinkelawa. This was dated 1190, in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire, during the reign of King Richard 1st, known as "Lionheart", 1189 - 1199. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes 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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