This interesting surname, with variant spellings Liddall, Liddel, Liddell, Lidell, Liddle and Lydall, is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational name from any of the various places called Liddel in Cumberland and the Scottish Borders, deriving from the Olde English pre 7th Century river name "Hlyde", meaning "loud", and the Olde English "doel", valley. The surname dates back to the early 13th Century (see below), and other early recordings include: Galfridus Liddal, from Roxburghshire, who was recorded in the 1266 Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, and Nicholas Lyddal, burgess of Aberdeen, who had a grant of charter in 1321, and who was provost in 1327. Recordings from London Church Registers include: the christening of Christopher, son of Humphrey Lyddell, on December 2nd 1582, at St. Margaret's, Lothbury; the christening of Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Lidle, on March 26th 1609, at St. Mary's, Whitechapel, Stepney; and the christening of Frances, daughter of John and Elizabeth Liddle, on October 3rd 1737, at St. George in the East. The family Coat of Arms is on a red shield a silver fesse wavy between three silver boar's heads erased, the Crest being two lions' gambs erased supporting a column proper. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard de Lidel, witnessed a charter of the church of Largs, which was dated circa 1202, in "Carta Monialium de Northberwic", Edinburgh, Scotland, during the reign of King William "The Lion" of Scotland, 1165 - 1214. 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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