The Scarman Family Tree
The Scarman Family TreeUpdated September 6, 2000 | |
Anthony Lloyd Scarman Cadogan St Carindale,Queensland 4152 | Acknowledgment: the details contained within this work were kindly provided by many of the Scarman's included in this research, particularly Brian Howard Scarman.The SCARMAN name has a long history. Searches give many references, though all appear to be related. The largest number of these references are from around the London area or counties close by. Brenda Scarman of England has sent the following information regarding the origins of the family name SCARMAN;" Surnames, in the main, began in England in the 13/14th century. These surnames fall within several well defined categories, two of which are designated Locative and Topographical.Surnames in these two categories generally consist of two elements e.g. a locative name BURTON = Burh + tun (Anglo-Saxon for a fortified homestead). Such a name would have been given to men who came from a place so named, of which there are many. A topographic name such as HILLMAN = Thyll + mann, again Anglo-Saxon, which was given to men who lived on a hill.SCAR in its original Scandinavian Norse spelling would have been SKAR, the hard Norse 'K' being later converted to the Middle English 'C'. A 'Scar' being a rocky place or a bleak exposed situation, would have been the locality in which the original SKARMANN resided.There is of course another meaning for 'Scar' which relates to a skin blemish, and one might assume it was a nickname given to a man so marked. Scar with this meaning was derived from Middle French and its usage would have originated much later than the Viking word. I can find no surname researched referring to Scarman as being a nickname, so I would consider this version to be an unlikely origin.Whilst it is easy to separate the two elements of a name and regard the meaning of the two elements as the origin of the name, this has its pitfalls.Consider the locative name of the Lincolnshire village SCARLE (North or South). The second element 'LE' is obviously the corruption of LEAH (a wood land clearing) and the first element 'SCAR' refers to neither of the two meanings previously stated. In this instance 'SCAR' refers to a dung heap, or a dirty place. Therefore it might be assumed incorrectly that the original Scarman lived near a dung heap!!! But this is not so, in this instance Scar is a corrupted form of Skearn." There are roughly 133 Scarmans in South Australia and about 12 in the other States of Australia. Port Pirie remains the seat of the Australian Scarmans. An excellent book about the city has been written: "Port Pirie - The Friendly City (The Undaunted Years)" by Ken Bullock, Peacock Publications. |