Seydlitz

This is a heraldic name recorded both for 'The Netherlands' as Van Sedlitz and for Saxony as Von Seydlitz, the Coat of Arms being the same. The name is however locational and derives originally from the village of Seidlitz in Bohemia, a village famous for its spa water, the mineral springs containing a high concentration of sodium bicarbonate. The name is naturally rare in England although it is believed that certain holders of the 'English' surname 'Sedley' and 'Seadler' are in fact anglicized variants of original Huguenot forms, which may include 'Seydlitz'. This systematic change of name has been common practice since Elizabethan times. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Johan Von Seydlitz, which was dated circa 1580, The Province of Silesia, Austria, during the reign of Emperor Rudolph II of the Holy Roman Empire, 1576 - 1612. 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.