8,632 Global SUMPTER Family Members

SUMPTER Family History

Found recorded in the usual spellings of Sumpter and Sunter, the latter being the dialectal form, this ancient surname is occupational. It describes a driver of a 'pack horse train', and as such is an anglicised development of the Olde French 'sommetier', a word introduced by the Norman Invaders after the 1066 invasion. There are a wide range of early surname recordings from different parts of England, showing the initial importance of the name holders in the country's economy. These recordings include William Le Summeter in the Assize Rolls of Gloucester for the year 1221, and William Sompter and Allan Sumpter in the 1301 of Subsidy Rolls of Yorkshire.