Paternoster History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The ancient name of Paternoster finds its origins with the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. It comes from a name for a person who created rosaries and chaplets. The surname Paternoster originally derived from the Old English word paternoster which was used a verb in the opening line of the Latin version of the Lord's Prayer. Paternoster referred to a bead in a rosary. Occupational names that were derived from the common trades of the medieval era transcended European cultural and linguistic boundaries. Occupational names have remained fairly common in the modern period. This is attested to by the continuing appearance of occupational suffixes at the end of many English surnames. Some of these suffixes include: herd, monger, maker, hewer, smith, and wright.

Early Origins of the Paternoster family

The surname Paternoster was first found in Berkshire, where they held a family seat from early times and their first records appeared on the census rolls taken by the ancient Kings of Britain to determine the rate of taxation of their subjects.

Early History of the Paternoster family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Paternoster research. Another 130 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1250, 1695 and 1736 are included under the topic Early Paternoster History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Paternoster Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Paternoster family name include Paternoster, Patternoster and others.

Early Notables of the Paternoster family

Notables of this surname at this time include:

Alice Paternoster first to hold the lands of Pusey

Paternoster migration to the United States +

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, the Canadas, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Paternoster surname or a spelling variation of the name include :

Paternoster Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Abraham Paternoster, who settled in Virginia in 1651
Abra Paternoster, who landed in Virginia in 1651 1

Paternoster Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Joseph and Catherine Paternoster, who settled in Maryland in 1731

Paternoster migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Paternoster Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

George Paternoster, aged 22, a labourer, who arrived in South Australia in 1852 aboard the ship "Omega" 2
John Paternoster, aged 36, a engineer, who arrived in South Australia in 1858 aboard the ship "General Hewett"
George Gladding Paternoster, aged 14, a labourer, who arrived in South Australia in 1858 aboard the ship "General Hewett"

Contemporary Notables of the name Paternoster (post 1700) +

Marissa Paternoster, American artist, singer and guitarist
Francis R. Paternoster, American Democratic Party politician, Candidate for New York State Assembly from Delaware County, 1938; Delegate to Democratic National Convention from New York, 1960, 1964 (alternate) 3
Richard Paternoster (1802-1892), English civil servant in the East India Company, founder of the Alleged Lunatics' Friend Society, an organisation that exposed abuses in lunatic asylums and campaigned for the reform of the lunacy laws
Jim Paternoster (b. 1875), Australian rules footballer
Fernando Paternoster (1903-1967), Argentine footballer and manager

Citations +

Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
South Australian Register Tuesday 3 February 1852. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) OMEGA 1852. Retrieved http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/omega1852.shtml
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 14) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html