Recorded as Peploe, Peplaw, Peplow, Peplar, Pepler, and possibly others, this is an English medieval surname. It originates from a place called Peplow near the small town of Hodnet, in Shropshire. It is first recorded as Papelav in the famous Domesday Book of 1086 and as Peppalawe in the tax rolls known as the Feet of Fines of 1232. The placename means Pebble Hill from the pre 7th century Olde English pyppel-hlaw. During the Middle Ages, when migration for the purpose of job-seeking was becoming more popular, people often took or were given as their surname, the name of their former home. This resulted in a wide dispersal of the name, and given that spelling was at best indifferent and local dialects very thick, often lead to the creation of "sounds like" forms. As Peploe the name is also well recorded in Scotland from about Elizabethan times. Examples of early church registers recordings from Shropshire include Houfraye Peplow, a christening witness on March 29th 1567 at Shawbury, whilst William Peplar married Elizabeth Stymkis at St Leonards Bridgenorth, on October 7th 1710. Samuel Peploe (1668 - 1752) was the bishop of Chester. According to tradition, he won the favour of King George 1st of England (1715 - 1727) by continuing to pray for him whilst the town of Preston was in the hands of the Jacobites in 1619. 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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