This interesting surname is of early medieval English origin, and is an occupational name for a sifter. The derivation of the name is from an agent derivative of the Middle English "rid(e)len", to sift, from the Olde English pre 7th Century "hriddel", a sieve. The surname would have been given to a sifter of flour and meal, or a sifter of sand and lime in making mortar. Job-descriptive surnames originally denoted the actual occupation of the namebearer, and later became hereditary. The surname is first recorded in the early half of the 13th Century (see below). Andrew le Rydelere is noted in the 1294 Court Rolls of the Abbey of Ramsey, Bedfordshire. In the modern idiom the surname can be found as Ridler and Redler. Recordings of the surname from London Church Registers include: the marriage of Christian Ridler and Thomas Kenton, which took place at St. Olave's, Hart Street, on September 21st 1628, and the marriage of Marye Redler and Thomas Dare, which took place on July 7th 1664, at the Church of St. Gregory by St. Paul. The Coat of Arms most associated with the family is on a green mount in base a red bull passant, on a silver shield. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Geoffrey le Ridelere, which was dated 1230, in the "Pipe Rolls of Somerset", during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. 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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