This is a dialectually transposed locational name from a number of places called Tunstall in Lancashire, North Yorkshire, Kent, Norfolk, Shropshire and Staffordshire etc. The name derives from the Olde English elements "tun" meaning a farm or enclosure and "stall" a site. Tunstall is a surname chiefly found in Lancashire and Yorkshire. In the modern idiom the name also appears as Tunstill and Dunstall. An interesting name bearer was John Dunstall (1644-1675) an engraver who published two drawing books. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Reginald de Tunstal which was dated 1185, in the "Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire" during the reign of King Henry 11, known as "The Builder of Churches" 1154 - 1189 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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