This interesting surname with variant spellings Savory, Savoury, Savary, Savery Severy, etc., derives from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements "saba", of uncertain meaning plus "ric" meaning "power", which was introduced into England by the Normans in the form Savaric. The surname dates back to the late 13th Century, (see below). Further recordings include one William Savery (1276) "The Hundred Rolls of Leicestershire", and Robert Saurrai (1327) "The Subsidy Rolls of Sussex". Church recordings include one William Saverie who was christened on December 26th 1570 at Lambourn, Berkshire, and William, son of Thomas and Hellen Savory, was christened on August 1627, at St. Botolph's, Bishopsgate, London, and An, daughter of Wllm and Cicely Savoury, was christened in July 1638 at St. Botolph without Aldgate, London. One of the earliest Australian novels, Quintus Servington (1831), was written by an English-born convict, Henry Savery (1791-1842). He had been convicted of forgery and when his death sentence was commuted he was transported to Australia in 1825. Savery was born in Butcombe, Somerset, the son of a banker, and had been a businessman and sugar refiner. In Australia he fell into debt and was again imprisoned, during which time he wrote his sketches of colonial life. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Saveri, which was dated 1273, in the Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire, during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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.