Seager

This very interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon or Norse-Viking origin. It derives from the pre 7th Century personal name "saegar", which translates as "sea-spear". This type of compound baptismal name is one of a group which survived the Norman Invasion of 1066, partly because the Normans themselves had Norse origins, and partly because of its 'heroic' translation, and its implication of great deeds. The surname itself is one of the earliest on record, dating back to the late 12th Century (see below). Early recordings include Ralph Segar in the 1207 'Curia Regis Rolls of Bedfordshire', and John Seger in the 1275 'Hundred Rolls of Norfolk'. The surname was also recorded in Holland from the Middle Ages, and it is known that Sir Willam Segar, Garter King of Arms to King Charles 1, and who died in 1633, was of Dutch descent. His Coat of Arms, granted in 1612, has the blazon of a blue field charged with a silver cross moline.The main forms of the modern spelling are Sager, Sagar, Saiger, Segar, Seager, Seegar, and Seeger, whilst early church recordings include Margaret Segar who was christened at St. Peter's Church, Cornhill, London on August 28th 1541, and Ralffe Sagar was christened at Goping, Essex, on May 24th 1548. On August 11th 1760, Thomas Sagar married Elizabeth Coleburn at the famous church of St. Clement Danes, Westminster. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Walter Sagar, which was dated 1195, in the Pipe Rolls of Dorset, during the reign of King Richard 1, known as "The Lionheart", 1189 - 1199. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.