Seers History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The name Seers reached English shores for the first time with the ancestors of the Seers family as they migrated following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Seers family lived in Essex. Their name, however, is a reference to Serez, Normandy or at the Ville of Sayers, Normandy according to the Magni Rotuli Scaccarii Normanniae. 1

Alternatively, two sources claims the name was derived from an Anglo-Norman "personal name, as Saher de Quincy, the famous Earl of Winchester" or was perhaps "a forgotten personal name that has left an indelible mark on our directories. From twenty to twenty-five surnames separately spelt are the offspring, and many have a large number of representatives. The name was popular so early as Domesday as Segar and Sigar, and Latinized as Sigarus. " 2

One source believes the family was "an assayer of metals. 'When Domesday was compiled, there was always a fire ready in the Exchequer, and if they liked not the allay of the money, they burnt it, and then weighed it.' Hence the expression in Domesday, ' Lib. LVI arsas et pensatas'-56lb. burnt and weighed.-Kelham's Domesday, p. 157. The Sayer would therefore be a crown officer who assayed the precious metals." 3

Early Origins of the Seers family

The surname Seers was first found in Essex where "the name of an old Colchester family of wealth and municipal consequence, " 4 some say from the reign of King Edmund Ironside in 1016, but this date conflicts with the more likely source of Serez, in the arrondisement of Evreux in Normandy, supporting the contention that the family was granted these lands after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. "During the 14th century the Sayer family of Coppeford held of the King 82 acres of land in the village of Lachingdon." 4

They held a family seat there continuously from the Conquest to 1770.

"As Sayer and Sayere it occurred in Norfolk, Beds, and Hants in the 13th century. The Sayers of Pulham, Norfolk, an ancient family, from which the Sayers of Eye, Suffolk, are derived, were lords of the manor of Pulham in the 17th and 18th centuries." 4

Early History of the Seers family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Seers research. Another 94 words (7 lines of text) covering the year 1630 is included under the topic Early Seers History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Seers Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Sears, Seares, Seers, Seeres, Sear, Seare, Seer and many more.

Early Notables of the Seers family

More information is included under the topic Early Seers Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Seers family to Ireland

Some of the Seers family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Seers migration to the United States +

Because of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Seers name or one of its variants:

Seers Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

John Seers, who landed in Woburn, Massachusetts in 1641 5
Gerrit Seers, aged 26, who arrived in New York in 1646 5
Francis Seers, who landed in Maryland in 1675 5

Seers Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Bernard Seers, who landed in America in 1752

Contemporary Notables of the name Seers (post 1700) +

Dudley Seers (1920-1983), British economist who specialised in development economics, Professorial Fellow and Director of the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex (1967-1972)
Matt Seers (b. 1974), Australian former professional rugby league player who played from 1993 to 2003

The Seers Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Honor et fides
Motto Translation: Honor and fidelity.

Citations +

The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)