This most interesting and unusual surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and derives from the Old English pre 7th Century personal name "Saebeorn", a compound of the elements "sae", sea, and "beorn", warrior. Pre 7th Century Anglo-Saxon and Norse baptismal names were usually distinctive compounds whose elements were often associated with the Gods of Fire, Water and War. Sabernus Monachus and Phillipus filius (son of) Seberni were noted in the Chartulary of Ramsey Monastery, Huntingdonshire, dated 1114. The surname first appears on record towards the end of the 12th Century (see below). Other early recordings include: Geoffrey Sebern (Cambridgeshire, 1273); Sayer Sabarn (Essex, 1327) and John Sabern (Essex, 1377). In the modern idiom the surname has a number of variant spellings ranging from Seaborn(e), Seabourne(e) and Siborne to Sibbon, Sibun and Seabon. On August 24th 1549 Jane Sebyn, an infant, was christened in St. Margaret's, Westminster, and on July 25th 1678 John Sebin and Mildred Campin were married at Allhallows, London Wall. The marriage of Joseph Sibun to Elizabeth Oxladd took place in St. Paul's, Deptford, Kent, on September 9th 1794, and on June 1st 1799 John Sibun married an Anne Wakeling at St. Dunstan's, Stepney, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Nel Sebern, which was dated 1190, in the "Kalendar of Abbot Samson of Bury St. Edmunds", Suffolk, during the reign of King Richard 1st, known as "Richard the Lionheart", 1189 - 1199. 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.

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