This interesting name, with variant spelling Winsloe in Buckinghamshire. Recorded as Wineshlauu in The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, dated 849, and as Weneslai in the Domesday Book of 1086, the place was so called from the genitive case of the Old English pre 7th Century personal name Wine meaning "friend", plus the Old English "hlaw", a barrow or burial mound; hence, "Wine's burial mound". The surname was first recorded in the early part of the 14th Century, (see below). Other early recordings include William Wynselawe or Wynselowe, witness, noted in the 1370-1372, "Fine Court Rolls of Essex", and Robert Wynslowe, (1525), "The Subsidy Rolls of Sussex". A famous namebearer was Edward Winslow (1595-1655), who went to New England on the Mayflower in 1620, and was one of the founders of the Plymouth colony. His marriage in New England, and their son Josiah was the first native-born Governor in America. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William de Wynselowe, which was dated 1332, "The Subsidy Rolls of Warwickshire", during the reign of King Edward 111, "The Father of the Navy", 1327 - 1377. 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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