Sedcole

This very unusual topographical name has Norse-Viking and Icelandic pre 7th Century origins. It derives from the Norse "Set or Seth" which translates as "Flat-topped" plus "Kollr" - a hill. A known village of exactly the same meaning is Sedburgh in Cumberland, originally recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book as "Sedberght". However no such place as "Sedcole" has been positively identified, although it is possible that the "lost" village of Sedsall in Derbyshire may have "some" association. The fact that the former site is now "lost" is given further credence by the preponderance of the name as Sedcol, Sedcole and Sedcoale in the London area, London being the natural destination for people dispossessed through plague, war or agriculture from their lands. The name recordings include Adryan Sedcole, son of Humphry (below) christened at St. Dunstans on December 12th 1602, and William Sedcoale, also recorded at St. Dunstans on October 21st 1666. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Humfry Sedcole, which was dated July 30th 1598, a witness at St. Dunstans Church, Stepney, London, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, "Good Queen Bess", 1558 - 1603. 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.