b. 9/6/1934 -- 8/2/2001
b. London 10/29/1899 - 5/27/1968
b. London 6/27/1903 - 10/20/1990
(brother)
Wiltshire. From what I have observed it is not a common name especially spelt in this manner and may have its roots in the surname “Mills”.
“Mather” – this would appear to be a highland Scottish surname with strong affiliation to northern England.
“Nuttall” – this again is a midland or north England surname having origins in an area associated with nuts!
"Best" - this would also appear to be a middle English name probably from the original "Beste"
I will be doing a little more research into these names but if you have any information then please let me know.
My Mothers family originated from the north of England, which fits in nicely with the origins of the surname Nuttall and Mather. Further research however has found that the true origin of the surname Mather is from the town/village Mather in southern Aberdeenshire (Kincardineshire) in Scotland. Mather is my Mother's maiden name but the history of her Father is unbeknown to me.
Both my Father and his before are Londoners, but what of my Great Grandfather? Married to an Irish woman, which would also fit historical events, I ask myself if he could have originated from Scotland .... maybe!
Either way there is an apparent strong Scottish association within my family roots. Below some history on the Mather surname!
http://www.contemplator.com/folk4/boyne.html
According to the Venerable Bede, the "Father of English History" who was born in 673, the Pictish race, one of the founding races of the British Isles, arrived in Scotland from Brittany about the 15th century BC. From France the Picts had sailed northward to Ireland. The ancient Monarchies of Ireland refused them permission to land, but they were allowed to settle in the eastern part of Scotland on condition that all their Kings marry an Irish Princess. This established a matriarchal hierarchy, a first in the annals of British history.
The family name Mather is believed to be descended from this source.
Nechtan was the first recorded Pictish King about 724 AD, although, according to Roman history, many Pictish kings before him had fought gallantly at Hadrian's Wall against the Roman invasion many centuries before. From the north, after the year 900, the Picts were invaded by the Orcadian Vikings who penetrated as far south as Caithness, and they were left with a territory on the eastern coast of Scotland from Aberdeen, south to Edinburgh.
From some of the many early documents researchers have examined such records as the Inquisitio (1120 AD), the Black Book of the Exchequer, The Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, The Ragman Rolls, the Chronicles of the Picts and Scots, and various other cartularies of parishes in Scotland. From these archives they produced the early records of the name in Kincardineshire where they were seated from early times and their first records appeared on the early census rolls taken by the early Kings of Britain to determine the rate of taxation of their subjects.
The surname Mather was found in many different forms and spellings. From time to time the surname was spelt Mather, Maider, Maddir, Mador, Madeer, Mathers, Matter, and some of these versions are still used today. These changes in spelling frequently occurred, even between father and son. One clanswoman on record was born with one spelling of her name, married with another and died with yet another. Scribes and church people frequently selected their own version of what they thought the spelling should be.
The family name Mather emerged as a Scottish Clan or family in this territory. More specifically they developed in their original territories of Kincardine where they were recorded as a family of great antiquity seated with manor and estates in that shire. From the village of Mathers in the parish of St. Cyrus or Ecclescraig in Kincardineshire, this name flourished in the area of Laurenckirk for many centuries. By the 15th century they had branched south to Newbattle where an important border family which frequently became Maidor or Maddir. Sir Richard Maddir was on record in 1556 as a Cleric. James Maddir was Sheriff of Roxburgh in 1666. They also moved south into England to Yorkshire to Seacroft and at Twyford in Derbyshire. The more recent family seat was at Lanton in Roxburghshire on the border. Notable amongst the Clan at this time was Sir Richard Maddir.
Scotland, during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, was ravaged by religious conflict. The newly found passionate fervour of Presbyterianism and the Church of Scotland rejected all who could not pass "The Test" of taking an oath of belief in the Church. Those failing the "Test" were sometimes burnt at the stake or, more kindly, banished to Australia, the Carolinas or the West Indies.
Many Clansmen were freely "encouraged" to migrate to Ireland. Families migrated from Scotland to Ireland with promises of cheap Irish land. They became known as the "Scotch/Irish". In Ireland they settled in Armagh and held estates in Maytone.
The migration or banishment to the New World also continued, some went voluntarily from Ireland, but most went directly from Scotland, their home territories. Some even moved to the European continent. They sailed to the New World across the stormy Atlantic aboard the small sailing vessels known as the "White Sails", such ships as the Hector, the Rambler and the Dove. These overcrowded ships, sometimes spending two months at sea, were racked with disease, sometimes landing with only 60% or their original passenger lists.
In North America, some of the first migrants which could be considered kinsmen of the surname Mather, or having a variation of the family surname spelling were Hugh, John, Laurence, Mathew, Thomas, William Mathers all arriving in Philadelphia between 1840 and 1860; Joe Mather settled in the Barbados in 1653; Richard Mather settled in Boston in 1635; Thomas Mather settled in Virginia in 1653; John Madders settled in the Barbados in 1685.
From the original ports of entry the immigrants moved westward, some to the middle west, some across the prairies to the west coast. During the American War of Independence some remained loyal to cause, whist others became United Empire Loyalists and moved north to Canada.
Many prominent people were a part of this notable name, Sir William Mather, British Engineer; Leonard Mather, Director of Midland Bank; Kenneth Mather, British Scientist; Bryant Mather, American Engineer.
The most ancient grant of a Coat of Arms found was:
Blue with two gold bars, at the top a seashell between two stars.
The crest was an eagle.
The ancient family motto for this distinguished family name was:
"Fortiter Et Celeriter"
