This interesting and unusual name is of early medieval origin and is a variant of the occupational surname more commonly found as "Sexton". Other modern variants are "Sexstone", "Sexon", "Seckerson" and "Secretan", the latter being the root for "Secret" or "Secrett". The name means a Church Warden, Sexton originally the officer in a church who was in charge of the sacred vessels and vestments and was not, as now, the grave-digger. The derivation is from the Middle English "Sexteyn", from the Olde French "Secrestein", from the latin "Sacristanus". One Joan Secrett was christened on the 23rd March 1673 at the Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Thomas Sekerstein, which was dated 1203, The Yorkshire Pipe Rolls, during the reign of King John, "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. 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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