Sarra

This name with variant spellings Sara, Sare, Sarra and Sarre, derives from the Hebrew female given name Sarah. In the Olde Testament Abraham's wife was first known as Sarai, "the quarrelsome", but by divine decree this was changed to Sarah, "the Princess". St. Sara is believed to have been the handmaid of the sisters Mary Magdalene and Martha whom Jesus visited in Bethany. Her supposed tomb is in Les Saintes Marie, Provence (Southern France). Sarra (without surname) is first recorded circa 1160 in Early Documents relating to the Danelaw, London. One, Benedictus filius (son of) Sarre appears in the 1169 "Pipe Rolls of Norfolk". The surname adopted from this source is first recorded in the latter half of the 13th Century, (see below). Adam Sarre, witness appears in "The Fine Court Rolls of Essex", dated 1317. On October 31st 1568, Nicholaus Sara and Katherina Rickards were married in St. Martin in the Fields, Westminster and on June 8th 1684, Susanna Sarah and Stephen Cosen were married in St. James, Dukes Place, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Sare, which was dated 1273, in the Hundred Rolls of Gloucestershire, during the reign of King Edward 1, known as the Hammer of the Scots, 1272 - 1307. 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.