Sidon

Recorded in several forms including Sidon, Siddon, Siddons, Sidden, Syddon, Siddens, and others, this is an English surname. It is of locational origins, but no evidence can be found of any place unless it be Sidon Hill, in the county of Hampshire. It has to be assumed that this surname originates from one of the estimated five thousand medieval villages and hamlets that have "disappeared" over the past five hundred years or so, leaving as their only reminder, the surviving surname. The reasons for disappearance are often complex, but these include changes in agricultrual practices particularly the development of sheep pastures which required far fewer workers, although but the great plagues such as the Black Death of 1348, and even war, have played some part. The placename itself was composed of the pre 7th century Old English words of "sid", meaning broad or wide, and "dun", a hill. Early examples of the surname recording taken from surviving church registers include: William Syddon who married Faith Burridge at St. James' church, Clerkenwell, in 1620, whilst in 1621 another William, this time called Siddon, was christened at St. Olaves church, also in the city of London. Sarah Siddons (1755 - 1831) was one of the foremost Shakespearean actresses of her time and her statue by Chantrey is in Westminster Abbey. Her son Henry (1774 - 1815) received encouragement from Sir Walter Scott and produced a number of plays. The first recorded spelling of the family name may be that of Richard Sidon, who married Jone Aldrige, at Burnham in Buckinghamshire, on April 15th 1564. This was during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1st, known to some as "Good Queen Bess", 1558 - 1603. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.