The Peall name has descended through the generations from the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture. Their name comes from having lived by the palisade. Peel was a square tower in olden times. Peall is a topographic surname, which was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree. Habitation names form the other broad category of surnames that were derived from place-names. They were derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. Other local names are derived from the names of houses, manors, estates, regions, and entire counties.
The surname Peall was first found in Yorkshire where they held a family seat from early times and their first records appeared on the early census rolls taken by the early Kings of Britain to determine the rate of taxation of their subjects.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Peall research. Another 103 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1556, 1598 and are included under the topic Early Peall History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Only recently has spelling become standardized in the English language. As the English language evolved in the Middle Ages, the spelling of names changed also. The name Peall has undergone many spelling variations, including Peel, Peal, Peale, Peele and others.
Distinguished members of the family include George Peele (c1556-1598), Elizabethan translator, poet, and dramatist who some claim collaborated with William Shakespeare on the play Titus Andronicus; and Sir Robert Peel, statesman, who as Home...
Another 33 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Peall Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Some of the Peall family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 57 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
To escape the unstable social climate in England of this time, many families boarded ships for the New World with the hope of finding land, opportunity, and greater religious and political freedom. Although the voyages were expensive, crowded, and difficult, those families that arrived often found greater opportunities and freedoms than they could have experienced at home. Many of those families went on to make significant contributions to the rapidly developing colonies in which they settled. Early North American records indicate many people bearing the name Peall were among those contributors: Lawrence Peele settled in Virginia in 1623; John Peele settled in Virginia in 1652; John Peel settled in New York in 1775; Thomas Peel arrived in Philadelphia in 1752.