This interesting and long-established surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and derives from the Olde English pre 7th Century "hlaedel", ladle, from "hladen", to draw out, originally given either as a metonymic occupational name to a maker of ladles, or to someone who made habitual use of this utensil in the course of his work. Job-descriptive surnames, such as this, initially denoted the actual occupation of the namebearer, and later became hereditary. In 1337, one William Ladyl was noted in the Calendar of Coroners' Rolls of the City of London. Several early instances of the name are represented with the agent suffix "-er", and include: Walter le Ladelere (Warwickshire, 1278); John le Ladeler (Yorkshire, 1327); and Nicholas Ladelere (Huntingdonshire, 1377). In its original sense, "a man who has to do with", the "-er" designated persons according to their profession or occupation. The surname is now recorded in English Church Registers under the variant spellings: Laddle, Laydel, Laidel, Ladel and Ladell. On August 17th 1561, William Laddle and Mary Williamson were married in London, and on January 2nd 1703, David Ladell married Elizabeth Tuck at Gravesend, Kent. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Nicholas Ladel, which was dated 1187, in "Some Early London Bynames and Surnames", 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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