Sallter History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The name Sallter is from the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name was given to a person who was a manufacturer or dealer in salt, 'the Salter.' "The Salters' Company was early among the London Guilds." 1 2 3 4

"A maker of salt [was] a business of great importance in the middle ages, when the produce of the land was almost entirely consumed on the spot, and immense quantities of victuals of all kinds had to he salted, in order that they might be kept the whole year round." 5

Alternatively the name could have originated with " 'the sautreour,' a player on the psaltery, or 'gay sawtrye,' as Chaucer styles it. A stringed instrument of the harp class." 1

While the first entry is the prevailing understanding of the etomology of the name, one source claims the name was Norman/French as the Magni Rotuli Scaccarii Normanniae lists William Salatre in Normandy in 1198. 6

Early Origins of the Sallter family

The surname Sallter was first found in various shires throughout ancient Britain. The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 listed John le Saltere, Cambridgeshire; and Nygel le Salter, Wiltshire. 1 In Somerset, Thomas le Saltar was listed there 1 Edward III (during the first year of King Edward III's reign.) 7

Later in Yorkshire, Willelmus Salter; and Thomas de Wollay, Salter were both listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379. Janetto la Sautreour was a minstrel of Queen Isabelle, according to the Close Rolls, 2 Edward III. "This would easily get corrupted to Salter, as the form psalterie was in use in the 12th century" 1 "William le Sautreour, [was] minstrel to the Lady Margaret, Queen of England 1304." 8

Back in Somerset, another source notes that Robert and Philip le Salter was listed in the Assize Rolls of 1243 and later in Essex in 1262. Thomas le Selter was found in the Subsidy Rolls for Sussex in 1296 and William le Saltere was recorded in the Assize Rolls for Northumberland in 1279. 8

Early History of the Sallter family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Sallter research. Another 88 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1383, 1386, 1388, 1397, 1399, 1404, 1541, 1554, 1580, 1650, 1673, 1718 and 1723 are included under the topic Early Sallter History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Sallter 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 Sallter family name include Salter, Sallter, Saltier, Saltire and others.

Early Notables of the Sallter family

Distinguished members of the family include William Salter (died 1404), English politician, a weaver, one of the wealthiest men in his area, Member of Parliament for Devizes 1383, 1386, 1388, 1397, and 1399.Thomas Salter (fl. 1580) was an English author, is said by Ritson to have been a schoolmaster. If so, he...
Another 52 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Sallter Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Sallter 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. Investigation of the origins of family names on the North American continent has revealed that early immigrants bearing the name Sallter or a variant listed above:

Sallter Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Nicholas Sallter, who landed in Virginia in 1634 9

Citations +

Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
Smith, Eldson Coles, New Dictionary of American Family Names New York: Harper & Row, 1956. Print
Arthur, William , An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. London: 1857. Print
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
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)
Dickinson, F.H., Kirby's Quest for Somerset of 16th of Edward the 3rd London: Harrison and Sons, Printers in Ordinary to Her Majesty, St, Martin's Lane, 1889. Print.
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
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)