Summerbell

This is a very unusual English surname. It is one of a large group which have the prefix Summer or Summers. All have much the same meaning of a place which is, or rather was, in pre medieval times, only used during the summer months at a time when grass grew on the upper slopes, and therefore a temporary village. Other surname examples include Summerbee, Summersby, or Somerby, Summerfield, Summerhill, Summerscales, and many others. Many if not quite all, these of these places have now completely disappeared, their only memory being the surviving surnames itself, often in a variety of spellings. This name is more of a puzzle, since Summerbell is a name without logic. From this we deduce that it is probably a transposed spelling from (say) Summerhill, although if this is the case we have been unable to find any positive links. It is well recorded in surviving registers of the city of London from the Elizabethan period and examples include Elizabeth Somerbell at the church of St Mary Somerset, on September 23rd 1589, and George Summerbell, christened at St Olave's Southwark, on May 7th 1727.