Show ContentsCartmend History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Cartmend is a name that was formed by the Anglo-Saxon society of old Britain. The name was thought to have been used for someone who once worked as a person who builds carts. Another alternative origin of this surname is guard which is derived from the Old English word Caretarius or Carda. 1 2

The Magni Rotuli Scaccarii Normanniae listed William Cartier, of Normandy, 1195 and Ralph Caretarius, of Winchester, 1148. 3

Early Origins of the Cartmend family

The surname Cartmend was first found in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 where Jocius Caretarius, Oxfordshire; Juliana le Cartere, Cambridgeshire; Nicholas le Carter, Oxfordshire; John le Cartere, Norfolk; Robert le Caretter, Huntingdonshire; and Margaret le Careter, Huntingdonshire were all listed, some still in their Latin form of the name. 4

The name is "well distributed over England. It is best represented in Cheshire and Essex, and afterwards in Cambridgeshire, Devon, and Sussex." 5

By the 15th and 16th centuries, the family was also found in Scotland. "James Cartare witness in Edinburgh, 1439. Hob Carter was a tenant on lands of the Abbey of Kelso, 1567." 6

Early History of the Cartmend family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cartmend research. Another 96 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1086, 1250, 1530, 1534, 1540, 1553, 1554, 1584, 1590, 1605, 1608, 1617, 1619, 1635, 1637, 1642, 1648, 1654, 1655, 1656, 1660, 1668, 1672, 1676, 1684, 1735, 1745, 1751, 1769 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Cartmend History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cartmend Spelling Variations

Until the dictionary, an invention of only the last few hundred years, the English language lacked any comprehensive system of spelling rules. Consequently, spelling variations in names are frequently found in early Anglo-Saxon and later Anglo-Norman documents. One person's name was often spelled several different ways over a lifetime. The recorded variations of Cartmend include Carter, Carters and others.

Early Notables of the Cartmend family

Notables of this surname at this time include: Oliver Carter (1540?-1605), English divine, probably a native of that part of Richmondshire which is in the county of Lancaster.Peter Carter (1530?-1590), was a writer on logic, a native of Lancashire, and took the degree of B.A. at St. John's College, Cambridge, in 1553-1534. William Carter (d. 1584), was a printer, son of John Carter, a draper of London. John Carter the Elder (1554-1635), was an English divine, born at Wickham, Kent, in 1554, educated at Clare Hall, Cambridge.John Carter the Younger (d. 1655), was also a divine, born in his father's parish...
Another 171 words (12 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Cartmend Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ireland Migration of the Cartmend family to Ireland

Some of the Cartmend family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 111 words (8 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Cartmend family

Thousands of English families boarded ships sailing to the New World in the hope of escaping the unrest found in England at this time. Although the search for opportunity and freedom from persecution abroad took the lives of many because of the cramped conditions and unsanitary nature of the vessels, the opportunity perceived in the growing colonies of North America beckoned. Many of the settlers who survived the journey went on to make important contributions to the transplanted cultures of their adopted countries. The Cartmend were among these contributors, for they have been located in early North American records: Ambrose Carter, who settled in Virginia in 1663; Thomas Carter and his wife Frances, who came to Philadelphia in 1685 with their children Thomas, Henry, Ann, and John, Chris Carter, who immigrated to St. John's, Newfoundland in 1705.



  1. Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
  2. Smith, Eldson Coles, New Dictionary of American Family Names New York: Harper & Row, 1956. Print
  3. The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
  4. Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
  5. Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
  6. Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)


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