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The early inhabitants of Cornwall would originally have
been called such names as John de (’of’ or ’from’) Argal, eventually being shortened
over a period of time to John Argal. This does not mean that all ARGALLs are
related from the same human origin, but they almost all certainly originate from
this single geographical area (Argal) on the northern banks of the Helford River in Mabe parish
of Cornwall.
Families and individuals with this Argall surname had moved from the Budock/Mabe
area into adjacent areas of St Keverne and Camborne, on either side of the
Helford basin, from the late 14th and early 15th Centuries. By the
early 16th Century they had also extended into Helston town and, via Gulval, to
Madron, a small village close to modern–day Penzance (which was then a coastal village in Madron parish). Others, who
were wealthier, had moved to London, the capital city of
England and the cetre of government, by the mid–15th Century but the major development
was in Cornwall. The
Cornwall Military Survey
of 1522 records the
following:
- Henry Argall, living in St Martin–in–Meneage owning goods to the value of
£3.
- John Argall living in Helston Parish owning goods to the value of
£10.
The 1522 Survey of Tinners Muster Roll , also lists:
| Peris Argall of Camborne Parish |
Sling |
| Walter Argall of Gwynnyar (Gwinear) Parish |
Bill Sallet |
| Richard Argall of Budoke (Budock) Parish |
Bill |
Two years later in 1524, and again in 1543 two
additional lists were drawn up. The Cornwall Subsidies
Lists in the Reign of Henry VIII 1524 & 1543, and the Benevolence
of 1545
, lists able–bodied men who were capable
of bearing arms. The following occurrences of the ARGALL name in the
early 16th Century appear in the Subsidies:
| 1524 |
Peter Argall |
Camborne Parish |
| 1524 |
Thomas Argall |
Gulval Parish |
| 1524 |
Walter Argall |
Arworthal (i.e. Perranarworthal) Parish |
| 1524 |
Henry Argall |
St. Martin (in Meneage) Parish |
| 1524 |
John Argall |
Helston Parish |
| 1543 |
Richard Argoull |
St. Budock Parish |
| 1543 |
Michael Argoull |
St. Budock Parish |
| 1543 |
Wattye Argall |
Wynyer (Gwinear) Parish |
| 1543 |
Harry Argaull |
St. Martin–in–Meneage
Parish |
Some of these are listed twice – once for each year’s
list. Henry/Harry are almost certainly the same person in these two
lists, and is also quite probably the same person as that referred to in the
Cornwall Military Survey
of 1522. Similarly, Peris/Peter are probably the same, as
would be Walter/Wattye. Particular attention should be
paid to Thomas Argall who was living in Gulval, because Gulval is only half a
mile from Madron and the two areas were probably a single parish at that date
(the parish of Madron was formed in 1577). This Thomas is probably
in all our direct line.
Some years later, the Cornwall Muster Roll of 1569 listed all able–bodied men
aged between 16 and 60 who were capable of bearing arms. The
following occurrences of the ARGALL surname (using the original spelling) are
included:
| Ronalde Argall |
Bow & sheaf of arrows |
Budocke Paryshe |
| Jarrys Argall |
Pike |
Budocke Paryshe |
| Mychill Argall |
Bill |
Camborne Paryshe |
None of these are known in our ancestry.
All but one of the Parishes listed are in the same geographical area inland
from modern Falmouth. This shows how the family had spread out from the
Argoll (or Argel) hamlet in Budock/Mabe parish after which the families were named,
during the 14th and 15th Centuries, although they remained still fairly close
by. A large concentration of ARGALLs seems to have developed
particularly in St Keverne which is across the Helford River, about 10 miles to
the south of St. Budock (now Budock Water). The earliest documentary
references to the family, and property it owned, do mention both St. Budock and
St Keverne
So the spread out of the family included a move into the Penwith area
of western Cornwall by the dawn of the 16th Century.
Continuous documentary evidence proves that all ARGALLs alive today (at the beginning of the 21st
Century), and who were born with the surname, are descended from those who lived
in Madron in West Cornwall in the mid–16th Century. The first ARGALL
entries in the Madron parish registers are for a marriage in 1578, and the first
baptism is recorded in 1593. However, when church registers were
first introduced in 1538, there was no guidance given as to how these registers
were to be maintained; many were kept in a loose–leaf format and some pages will have been
lost. It was only in the 1570s that the government of Elizabeth I
detailed that the registers were to be kept on parchment in a proper book.
The only complication over following the recording of Argall events concerns
those children more recently adopted as Argalls; these will have produced
offspring in the Argall name but without the original Argall
bloodline. Thus, with this sole proviso, the track of the Argall
family (proper) development to the modern day is firmly established from
documentary evidence as coming from Madron
parish in Cornwall.
Ian Argall © 2006 - 2008
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