Summerson

This picturesque name is the patronymic (son of) form of the name Summers from the Olde French "Somier" or "Sommier" meaning "Sumpter", a term, applied both to men and pack horses alike. In 1327, one William Somyr was granted an annual rent for life by David II. The name Sumer is first recorded in England at the beginning of the 13th Century (Adam Sumer, Essex 1203) with Somer appearing in the Worcestershire Pipe Rolls 1275 and Somerys in the 1327 Subsidy Rolls of Somerset. On June 20th 1678, one, Ann, daughter of John Summers was baptised in St. John's parish (Barbados). Her parents having been earlier settlers there. Charles Summers (1827 - 1879) went to Australia as a gold digger, but became a sculptor and designed statues in Melbourne.On December 12th 1705 at St. Brides, Fleet Street, London one John Summerson married Elizabeth Judd, and in St. Anne and St. Agnes Aldergate, one Elizabeth Summerson married George Gould on August 13th 1752. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Peteus Somersone, a witness, which was dated March 2nd 1588, St. Andrews, Enfield, London, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, 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.