The Sarson One Name Study

I began researching my surname Sarson more seriously in 2016, following years of wondering if my family  is linked into the family tree of Thomas Sarson, who founded 'Sarson's Vinegar' tm in 1794. I have not yet found the definitive link but continue to search. 

My Sarson ancestors, so far, are all from London or Middlesex, England. There is, though, a very large concentration of families with the Sarson surname in the counties of Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Lancashire in England. The Sarson surname is also found in America, mainly in the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin, as well as Canada. 

The aims of my study are:

• To collect and index all references to the surname Sarson worldwide
• To collaborate with other researchers of the Sarson surname and give whatever help I can

I am in the very early stages of my study and my initial focus is researching the Birth, Marriage and Death indexes of the Sarson surname particularly in London and Middlesex, before expanding my study further afield. 

I am seeking references to the Sarson surname from all around the world, and am always interested to hear from people researching this surname.

You can find the ONS Sarson Family tree on Ancestry .

Last updated on 29 May 2020

I am also looking at the variant of Sarsons. 

There are other variants including:

• Sarasin
• Sarrasin
• Sarazin
• Sarrazin
• Saracen

The above will not be considered in this particular study at this time.

The Sarson surname is derived from the Old French word "Sarrazin," meaning "Saracen." It is thought to have been a nickname in Medieval England for someone of swarthy appearance, or for someone returned from the Crusades, before becoming a surname.

According to an ONS database, there are some 821 people with the surname Sarson as of September 2002. This makes it the 7747th most common name in England and Wales. 

A search of the Sarson surname on Ancestry.co.uk, shows that there were 650 people with this surname recorded on the 1881 census in England and Wales. 

From the Surname Atlas

According to the 1881 census on Ancestry.co.uk, 40% of people with the Sarson surname in England and Wales lived in Leicestershire (257 out of 650), 14% in London (90 out of 650) and 8% in Derbyshire (49 out of 650). 

I have started to collect data from the General Register Office website and GRO indexes on FreeBMD website regarding births with the surname Sarson. The data is as follows:

I have a public tree on Ancestry - ONS Sarson Family Tree. So far, 1227 of the 1368 births from the GRO and FreeBMD data has been added to this tree, which is 90%. I have worked on the areas of Leicestershire, London, Middlesex, Sheffield, Manchester, Devon, Lancashire and Caernarvonshire so far. 18% of births of data collected so far were registered in the Barrow Upon Soar district in Leicestershire. Leicester is next highest district with 15% and then Lutterworth, also in Leicestershire, with nearly 4%. In total, more than 47% of all births of data collected so far occur in the county of Leicestershire. 

I also have records of 452 baptisms and 276 marriages obtained from various sources.