The surname Kendall of England is of local derivation from the town of Kendall, Westmoreland county.  The town's name was doubtless derived from that of the river Ken, on which it is located.  The family in England is very large and widely distributed, many of the branches bearing arms and having distinguished members.  The name is found common in Bedfordshire, at Basingbourne, Essex; in Lancashire; at Smithsby, Derbyshire; in Cornwall; in Devonshire; and Hertfordshire.  In 1575, a branch of the family settled in Thorpthules, Durham, a younger son of the Kendall family of Ripon, Yorkshire, where the family lived at an early date.  Among the early Kendalls who were prominent was John Kendall, a sheriff of Nottingham, killed in the battle of Bosworth in 1485, fighting in the army of Richard III.1602