This ancient surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is in most instances a topographical name given to a dweller by the willows, from the Olde English pre 7th Century word "sealh", willow. However, the name may also be of locational origin, from a minor place called "Sallies", near Kinnersley in Herefordshire; the place is named from the same Olde English derivation as above. Topographical surnames were among the earliest created, since both natural and man-made features in the landscape provided easily recognisable distinguishing names in small medieval communities. People also often used their former village name as a means of identification as migration for the purpose of job-seeking became more common during the Middle Ages. Early recordings of the surname include: Robert ate Salwe, mentioned in the Ministers Account of the earldom of Cornwall, in 1297; and William Salowes, recorded in the Subsidy Rolls of Suffolk in 1524. Robert Sallis married Jaine Hewes on November 1st 1660, at St. Vedast, Foster Lane, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Nicholas de Sallowe, which was dated 1254, in the "Hundred Rolls of Shropshire", 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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