Dave,
I would be interested. There are some Curedales in Hertfordshire and a Cuerdale, perhaps the last somewhere I think in the Midlands or North of England. There may be more hiding under stones somewhere. There was a woman called Alice Curedale living in Norway around 1910 and about 20 Curedales lived in New York from 1872 to 1990 when I think the last one died. The family seems to have many more girls for hundreds of years. I think a lot of the ancient history remains to be rediscovered in eight handwritten volumes by Dr Richard Keurden written around 1660. I believe there is a partial trancription in the Oxford library. The originals are very difficult to read and spread amongst 3 libraries in London and Manchester.
Some old sources I have read include Kuerden amongst the dozen or so variations of spelling which include Keuerdale, Keverdale, Cuerdall, Cuerdell, Curedowe, Cuardale, Curedale Cuerdale and Kuerdall. The Curedale spelling sems to date to about 1800 and the Cuerdale spelling was the most populat for about 100 years before that. Several maps from about 1650 show a town called Keverdale slightly south east of where Cuerdale Hall stands today. There is a stone cross on an intersection there that may have stood in the town.
