Soanes

This interesting surname of English origin with variant spellings Soanes, Soans, Sones, Sownes, etc. is a patronymic of the name Soane, a distinguishing epithet for a son who shared the same given name as his father, deriving from the Middle English "sone", Old English pre 7th Century "sunu" meaning "son". The surname dates back to the early 13th Century, (see below). further recordings include one James le sone (1275), "A descriptive catalogue of ancient deeds of Middlesex", and William le sones (1327) "The Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire", and Robert Soones together with John Soanes (1674) appear on "The Herth Tax Returns of Suffolk". One Agnes Sownes married Bernarde Sesye on April 7th 1583 at St. Michael's, Cornhill, London, Edward, son of Samuell Soanes, was christened on June 21st 1607, at St. Dunstan's, Stepney, and Elizabeth, daughter of John and Faith Soanes, was christened on July 23rd 1653 at St. Botolph's, Bishopsgate, London. One Mary Soanes aged 26 yrs, an emigrant to the new World, sailed from London aboard the George bound for Virginia on August 21st 1635. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Sune, which was dated 1203, The Pipe Rolls of Warwickshire, during the reign of King John known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. 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.