This rare surname is a variant of Summer, which derives from the Old French "Somier" or "Sommier" meaning "Sumpter", a term applied both to men and pack horses alike. The name is first recorded in Scotland towards the end of the 12th Century (see below) and today is widespread throughout Scotland in its variant forms: Sym(m)ers, Simmers, Somers and Sum(m)ers; Sumbler is very rare in all parts of Scotland and England. In 1327, one William Somyr was granted an annual rent for life by David 11. The name Sumer is first recorded in England at the beginning of the 13th Century (Adam Sumer, Essex 1203) with Somer appearing in the Worcestershire Pipe Rolls 1275 and Somerys in the 1327 Subsidy Rolls of Somerset. The marriage was recorded in Wiltshire of Jane Sumbler and Thomas Cleverly on July 21st 1699 at Heddington. One John Sumbler married Elizabeth Wilkes on March 27th 1733 at St. John's Gloucestershire. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Sumer, (witnessed a grant to Soltre Hospital), which was dated circa 1180, Charters of the Hospital of Soltre, Edinburgh, during the reign of King William, "The Lion of Scotland", 1165 - 1214. 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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