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The Rathmell surname is a habitational, taken on from the place name Rathmell in North Yorkshire. The name dates back to at least the Domesday Book where it was listed as Rodemele and held by Roger de Poitou. 1 The name was derived from the Old Norse words rauthr + melr which means "red sandbank" 2
The surname Rathmell was first found in Yorkshire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, having prevailed over King Harold, granted most of Britain to his many victorious Barons. It was not uncommon to find a Baron, or a Bishop, with 60 or more Lordships scattered throughout the country. These he gave to his sons, nephews and other junior lines of his family and they became known as under-tenants. They adopted the Norman system of surnames which identified the under-tenant with his holdings so as to distinguish him from the senior stem of the family. After many rebellious wars between his Barons, Duke William, commissioned a census of all England to determine in 1086, settling once and for all, who held which land. He called the census the Domesday Book, 1 indicating that those holders registered would hold the land until the end of time. Hence, conjecturally, the surname is descended from the tenant of the village and lands of Rathmell, held by Roger le Poitevin, a Norman noble who was recorded in the Domesday Book census of 1086.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Rathmell research. Another 51 words (4 lines of text) covering the year 1379 is included under the topic Early Rathmell History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Rathmell, Rathmall, Ratmell, Ratmall, Rathmel and many more.
Outstanding amongst the family at this time was
Because of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Rathmell name or one of its variants: