This most interesting surname is English. It is locational from a place so called Peplow near the small town of Hodnet in Shropshire, 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 pyppel-hlaw. During the Middle Ages, when migration for the purpose of job-seeking was becoming more common, people often took the name of their former village as a means of identification, which resulted in a wide dispersal of the name and its spelling. Peplow is also found as Peploe, a spelling found in Scotland. Here the family has been traced back to William Peplowe (see below). Early examples of church recordings include Wylliam, the son of Houfraye Peplow, christened on March 29th 1567, at Shawbury, Shropshire, whilst Samuel Peploe (1668 - 1752) was the bishop of Chester in 1719. According to tradition, he won the favour of King George 1st of England (1715 - 1727) by refusing to cease praying for him whilst Preston was in the hands of the Jacobites in 1719, although threatened by them with execution. Amongst the earliest recordings is that of William Peplowe, in 1552. He is given as being a yeoman farmer of Sir Andrew Corbett, in Shawbury, Shropshire, and during the reign of King Edward V1, known as "The Boy King", 1547 - 1553. 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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