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The surname Rault was first found in Bedfordshire (Old English: Bedanfordscir), located in Southeast-central England, formerly part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia, 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 lands of Oxfordshire who was recorded in the Domesday Book census of 1086 and were also lands at Oxford from 1066.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Rault research. Another 137 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1066, 1510, 1531, 1600, 1631, 1677, 1681, 1688 and 1710 are included under the topic Early Rault History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Spelling variations of this family name include: Rolt, Rowald, Roult, Rold, Rolte and others.
Another 40 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Rault Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
In France, the name Rault is the 414th most popular surname with an estimated 10,236 people with that name. 2