Searight

This rare and unusual surname is a variant of Seawright, which is of Anglo-Saxon origin and is derived from a Middle English (1200-1500) given name "Seric". the given name represents a coalescence, of two Old english pre 7th Century personal names, "Soeric", composed of "soe", sea and "ric", power, and "Sigeric", composed of "sige", victory and "ric", as before. These elements would normally have given the modern English "Serrich", but the form has been altered under the influence of the Old French "surreis", southerner. The element found as "ric" or "rich" in early recordings has generally become "right" or "wright" in modern recordings of the surname. The modern surname can be found as Seawright, Seathwright and Searight. The marriage was recorded in Lancashire of Alice Seawright and Patrick Keef on March 25th 1878 at St. Nicholas, Liverpool, and the christening was recorded in Scotland of Agnes Muir, daughter of William Seawright and Annie Marshall, on November 25th 1879 at Glasgow Central District, Lanarkshire. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Serych, which was dated 1296, in the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex, 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.