Guild of One-Name Studies
One-name studies, Genealogy
Study: Pepperrell
Variants: Pepperall, Pepperell, Pepperrall
Category: 2 - A study where research using core genealogical datasets and transcriptions is well under way, but currently in some countries only.
Website: www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Pepperrell_Name_Study
Contact: Mr Phillip Pepperrell
The family research began back in the 1960's when my uncle Les wanted to find out more about his mother. I guess the stories that most families have, rags to riches and back, etc., always stuck in my mind; particularly when told by my uncle that it was better to “Let sleeping dogs lie”.
My brother Brian took over the family research which showed our great grandfather, his father, uncle and brother (all plasterers by trade) had moved to Surbiton, Surrey from Exeter, Devon. During his research he had contact with a number of other people with a Pepperell in their family tree via the Devon FHS. Since 2013 I have been attempting to trace my own ancestry, building a collection of Pepperrell/Pepperell records. This led to taking the Pharos Introduction to One-Name Studies in 2017.
The Pepperrell One-Name study was registered January 2019.
The registered variants of the name are Pepperell, Pepperrall and Pepperall.
Pepperrell appears to be linked with Devon, Surrey, Middlesex and London while Pepperell appears to linked with Cornwall, Devon (particularly the South Hams and Uffculme area), Wiltshire and Somerset.
THE PEPPERRELLS Would writers learn to rightly spell The Ancient name of Pepperrell Then please these easy lines recite And one will surely have it right Of letters four make ten from these of p's and r's and l's and e's Begin with p and e and then Use all the letters that you can That is to say in Pepperrell Use doubles p and r and l. Unknown
From the book Why They Came To London by Michael Barefoot. The book is A study of five selected ancestors who came to London early in the 19th Century; eventually to be related, or their descendants to be related, by marriage. They had the surnames of BAREFOOT, MOSS, JAMES, McINTOSH & PEPPERELL.
In Chapter 7 - A Tale of Many Parishes the story is told of the Pepperells of Slapton and Stokenham, detailing the direct line to the author, and their migration from rural Devon to London. The chapter contains a rhyme about the spelling of the Pepperrell surname. I am not sure where it originated or who the original author was; Michael Barefoot refers to it as "an ancient little ditty!" but does not mention it's origins. Seems like the ancient scribes and clerics had the same problem spelling the Pepperrell surname as people do today.
William Peverel was a natural son of William the Conqueror, who entered England at the Conquest. 'In Domesday it is continually spelt Piperellus. Mr. Planche: (Journal of Arch. Assoc. viii. 196) conjectures that it had a personal signification, and that 'it is a corruption of Puerulus, which is almost identical with Peuerellus, as we find it written in the Anglo-Norman Pipe and Plea Rolls' (v. Lower's Patr. Brit). This would make the meaning to be Littleboy. It does not seem satisfactory. In any case Pepperall, Pepperell, and Pepperill are variants of Peverall. - A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, written: 1872-1896 by Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley
Sir William Pepperrell, 1st Baronet (27 June 1696 – 6 July 1759) was an American merchant and soldier in Colonial Massachusetts. He is widely remembered for organizing, financing, and leading the 1745 expedition that captured the French garrison at Fortress Louisbourg during King George's War. During his day Pepperrell was called "the hero of Louisburg". He is the great-great-great grandfather of actor Robert Hardy. Wikipedia
Eddie Louis Pepperell (22 January 1991 - ) is an English professional golfer who plays on the European Tour. In February 2018, he won his first European Tour event at the Qatar Masters. In October 2018, he won his second European Tour event at the Sky Sports British Masters. Wikipedia
According to an ONS database there are some 195 Pepperrells as of September 2002 making it the 21637th most common name in England and Wales, however there are 712 Pepperells making it the 8635th most common name and 92 Pepperalls making it the 34906th most common name.
Using the British 19th Century Surname Atlas (version 1.20 © Archer Software, 2003-2015) I was able to determine the size of the task ahead; in total 1,314 lives including all possible variants. The Pepperrell surname, including the possible variants found by the software, appears to be spread throughout England, predominately in Devon, Somerset, Wiltshire, Surrey and Middlesex, with the odd outposts in Wales, Jersey and Guernsey.