FOSTER
This is a copy of an article published in
The Peak Advertiser, the Peak District's local free newspaper,
on 5th April 1993,
reproduced by kind permission of the author, the late Desmond Holden.
The “What's in a Name” series was a regular
feature in the Advertiser over the period 1993‑2004,
taking a refreshing look at the derivation of some typically
Derbyshire surnames.
Articles are confined to the origins and meanings of surnames,
and do not indicate any particular interest on Desmond's part in
the genealogy, descent, or family history of individuals bearing
the surnames featured.
Editor's Note: Articles are provided for general interest and
background only. They are not intended to provide an exhaustive treatise
for any individual family history - investigations of which may yield
quite different results. Or, in Desmond's own words:
“In the end it must remain with individual bearers of the names to
draw upon family traditions and to seek out such documentary
evidence as is available to decide the matter for themselves.”
WHAT'S IN A NAME …
Are you called FOSTER?
Most names ending in "-er" are described as being "occupational"
and in this case would originally have been used to indicate that a
man called "Foster" could have followed one of three possible
occupations: either that of a forester, a woodworker or a maker of
scissors.
The history books tell us that William the Conqueror (1066-1087)
and his successors were very fond of hunting and set aside large
areas of woodland for that purpose. They appointed "woodmen" or
"foresters" to police and patrol them and this gave rise to an
occupational name "Forester" which modified also to "Foster". Not
surprisingly, the name is widespread in Nottinghamshire (Sherwood
Forest) and it is there that the earliest record is to be located:
1240. Hence people today called "Foster" - and its innumerable
permutations including "Forster" and "Forrester" - could be
descendants of a man who had taken up that job.
As an alternative it may be remembered that in the unsettled times
of our ancestors there was considerable demand for weapons, such as
clubs. The makers of these were called "fosters" and in this case
the name can be traced back to the Latin word "fustis" which
describes such things as a block of wood or a sturdy stick or a
cudgel.
Finally we have "scissor-makers". A Latin word for "shears" or
"scissors" is "forfices" which passed into French as "forcetier"
and emerged in Early English (about the time of the Norman
Conquest) as "foster". As might be expected it is not uncommon in
sheep-rearing districts, as the North of England and the Cotswolds
- perhaps that's why we find "Doctor Foster of Gloucester"!
Today, similarities of spelling conceal the direct source of the
name with regard to particular families. Only if one had access to
very early records, to be able to see how the name was first
written, would it be possible to suggest which of the three origins
was applicable. Certainly the local directories between them
contain over 500 entries.
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© Desmond Holden
From "The Peak Advertiser", 5th April 1993.
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