This interesting surname, of English origin, is a locational name from a place called Martindale, in Westmorland. The place name derives from the Latin "Martinus", a derivative of "Mars", the Roman god of fertility and war, plus the Olde English pre 7th century "dael"- a valley, hence "Martin's valley". The surname dates back to the late 15th Century (see below), and variations in the idiom of the spelling include Markendale, Martindell, Markyngdale, and the North Yorkshire dialectal - Artindale. The recording examples include John Markyngdale, in the Subsidy Rolls of Yorkshire for the year 1476, and Edmonde Martyndale, who was christened at St. Margaret's Church, Westminster, on March 5th 1556. Other recordings are those of Elizabeth, daughter of William Martindale, christened on June 26th 1592 at St. James' Church, Clerkenwell, London, whilst on November 28th 1620, Thomas Artendale married Elizabeth Hodgson at Whitby, North Yorkshire. Later recordings include Miles Martindale (1756 - 1824) a Wesleyan minister, and Governor of Woodhouse Grove school, Bradford, and William Artindale, who married Sophia Donaldson at Kingston upon Hull, on December 17th 1821. The coat of arms granted in Cumbria has the blazon of a barry of six, silver and red, charged with a black bend. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Katerina Martyngdale, which was dated 1475, in the "Subsidy Rolls of Yorkshire", during the reign of King Edward 1V, known as "The Self Proclaimed King", 1461 - 1483. 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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