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BONNELL Family History

This interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational name from Bonehill in Staffordshire. The placename is recorded as "Bolenhull" and "Bulenhull" in the 1230 Pipe Rolls of the county, and the derivation is from the genitive case of the Olde English pre 7th Century "bula", bull(ock) or the same word used as a personal name, and the Olde English "hyll", hill; hence, "Bula's hill" or "hill of the bullock". During the Middle Ages, when migration for the purpose of job-seeking was becoming more common, people often took their former village name as a means of identification, thus resulting in a wide dispersal of the name.