Sealand

Recorded as Sealand, Selland, Solland, Sulland and in the British Isles, the rare Celand, Zeland and Zelland, this is usually an English and Welsh surname, but in some cases may be Flemish. Certainly it is locational and most nameholders will originate from the village of Sealand just inside the Welsh county of Flintshire, and across from the English city of Chester. However it may also be (French?) Huguenot Protestant because it was recorded at the French Church, Threadneedle Street, in the city of London in 1628 when Rebecca Zelande was christened there on February 3rd of that year. What we do know as well is that it is not recorded in the book of Welsh Surnames. This is probably because being locational it was a "from" name. That was a surname given to somebody after they had left their original village to move somewhere else, and this in olden times would almost always have been from Wales to England. Zeeland and Sealand both translate as the land surrounded by sea, and this is a fair description of Sealand village even today. Early examples of recordings taken from surviving church registers include Susan Solland christened at St Dunstans in the East, Stepney, on September 7th 1606, Arthur Sellind at St Giles Cripplegate, city of London, on May 8th 1690, Elizabeth Sealand, christened at St Martins in the Field, Westminster, on May 2nd 1789, Margaret Celand at St Mary-le-Bone, Marylebone, city of London, on August 8th 1832, and Grace Zelland christened at Bodmin Road Chapel, Mevagisey in Cornwall, on March 29th 1832.