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The ancient history of the Sants name begins with the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name is derived from when the family resided in the residence that was near the sands. Sants is a topographic surname, which was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree. During the Middle Ages people were very conscious of the variations in their surroundings including the soil types. In this case the original bearers of the surname Sants were named due to their close proximity to the sands.
The surname Sants was first found in Worcestershire at Wickhamford, a parish, in the union of Evesham, Upper division of the hundred of Blackenhurst. "The church [of Wickhamford] is an exceedingly neat edifice, with a simple unpretending tower which rises prettily above the trees that environ it: in the chancel are two enriched altar-tombs with effigies in alabaster, in memory of the Sandys family, whose descendant, Lord Sandys, in 1841 repaired the entire church." 1 "About a mile from the church [of Woodham-Ferris in Essex] is Edwin Hall, a handsome mansion erected by Edwin Sandys, Archbishop of York." 1
"At Lanarth, [in the parish of St. Keverne, Cornwall] which has been in possession of the Sandys family upwards of a century, an elegant house has been lately built by its present proprietor Lieutenant Colonel William Sandys, who spent the spring of his life in India, in those active scenes which mark and diversify the military occupation. His house, gardens, and grounds, have been raised to their present state of perfection at a vast expence; and they include every convenience which a retired situation can be expected to secure." 2
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Sants research. Another 135 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1377, 1519, 1559, 1560, 1570, 1576, 1577, 1586, 1588, 1591, 1607, 1609, 1614, 1615, 1621, 1622, 1623, 1640, 1642, 1644, 1660, 1661, 1669, 1681, 1685, 1702 and 1708 are included under the topic Early Sants History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Until quite recently, the English language has lacked a definite system of spelling rules. Consequently, Anglo-Saxon surnames are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. Changes in Anglo-Saxon names were influenced by the evolution of the English language, as it incorporated elements of French, Latin, and other languages. Although Medieval scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded, so it is common to find one person referred to by several different spellings of his surname, even the most literate people varied the spelling of their own names. Variations of the name Sants include Sandys, Sands, Sandy and others.
Notables of the family at this time include Edwin Sandys (1519-1588), an English prelate, Bishop of Worcester (1559-1570), London (1570-1576) and Archbishop of York (1576-1588) Archbishop of York; his son, George Sandys (1577-1644), an English traveler, colonist and poet; Sir Samuel Sandys (1560-1623), an English landowner and politician, Member of Parliament for Ripon (1586) and Worcestershire (1609-1622); Sir Edwin Sandys (1591-1623)...
Another 60 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Sants Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Searching for a better life, many English families migrated to British colonies. Unfortunately, the majority of them traveled under extremely harsh conditions: overcrowding on the ships caused the majority of the immigrants to arrive diseased, famished, and destitute from the long journey across the ocean. For those families that arrived safely, modest prosperity was attainable, and many went on to make invaluable contributions to the development of the cultures of the new colonies. Research into the origins of individual families in North America revealed records of the immigration of a number of people bearing the name Sants or a variant listed above: David Sands who settled in Virginia in 1620; followed by George in 1623; William in 1623; Mary in 1648; Ellen Sands settled in New York State in 1804.