Everybody swells with pride when talking about their own surname. Typically a surname was derived from a relationship (Johnson, Carlson), physical feature (Armstrong, Short), a place of residence (Hills, Banks) or an occupation (Cooper, Baker). In my long years of researching my family, it became obvious my surname ‘Angel’ was the result of ‘mistakes’! My 5X great grandfather was born John ‘Ingles’ in 1743 but by 1800 the surname settled as ‘Angel’ at Hutton Buscel, Yorkshire. John was born in West Yorkshire and likely spoke with a thick accent from such a place. His arrival at Hutton Buscel c1778 likely gave the church minister some issues trying to get John’s name spelled!
