Recorded as Winterscale and the dialectal Wintersgill, this is an English surname although one with some Norse-Viking intake. It originates from a now "lost" medieval village called Winterscale, believed to have been in the parish of Ingleton in North Yorkshire. The name is believed to mean the cottage used in winter, and to compliment this name, we have Somerscales, also now a lost village, and also in Yorkshire. We think that these were temporary places where the herds and flocks would be taken in winter or summer, and in medieval times when the weather in England was warmer than today, global warming not withstanding. The first recordings are those of Magota de Winterscale in the Poll Tax register for the county of Yorkshire in the year 1379, and Johannes Wynterscalle in the same register. Apparently Magota lived in Ingleton, whilst Johannes lived in nearby Dent. Later recordings include William Winterscale at St James Clerkenwell in the city of London in 1626, and Ann Wintersgill who married Thomas Loomes at St Georges chapel, Hanover Square, Westminster, in 1769.

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