This ancient surname is of Old Norse origin, and is a locational name from a place called Scargill in Northern Yorkshire, deriving from the Old Norse bird name "skraki", a diving duck, plus the Old Norse "gil", valley or ravine. The placename appears as "Seacreghil", "Scracreghil" in the Domesday Book of 1086, and as "Scakregill" in the Pipe Rolls of 1172. During the Middle Ages when migration for the purpose of job-seeking was becoming more common, people often took their former village name as a means of identification, thus resulting in a wide dispersal of the name. The surname dates back to the late 12th Century (see below), and early recordings include: William de Skaregile (1285) in the "Calendar of Inquisitiones post mortem", Yorkshire, and John Scargill (1459) in the Kirkstall Abbey Rent Roll. Church Records list the marriage of Nicholas Scargill to Elizabeth Ellis on November 18th 1564 in London, and the christening of Wills Scargill on June 2nd 1566, in Sheffield, Yorkshire. A Coat of Arms granted to a Scargill family is ermine, a purple saltire engrailed. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Warin de Scakergill, which was dated 1177, in the "Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire", during the reign of King Henry 11, known as "The Builder of Churches", 1154 - 1189. 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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