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![Show Contents]() Quartermass History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
- Origins Available:
 England
The history of the name Quartermass dates back to the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. It is derived from a member of the family who worked as a person who was mail-fisted or perhaps the nickname 'four hands.' 1 The surname Quartermass originally derived from the armor that soldiers or knights donned for protection in battle. Occupational names that were derived from the common trades of the medieval era transcended European cultural and linguistic boundaries. Early Origins of the Quartermass familyThe surname Quartermass was first found in Oxfordshire where the first records of the name were Clare Quatremayns and William Quatremeyns who were both listed in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273. A few years later, Thomas Quatremains was listed in the Writs of Parliament in 1313. 2 Digging further into the 'four hands' reference we found: "French for 'four hands' which form the charge of the family shield." 1 Thame in Oxfordshire was home to one branch of the family. "About the time of Edward IV., an hospital for destitute persons was endowed with lands by Richard Quatremain, a member of a family of high repute. The north transept [of the church] is the burying place of the Dormer family, and the south transept the sepulchral chapel of the Quatremains; both contain handsome monuments." 3 The Quartermaine family is a fictional family from the ABC soap opera, General Hospital and Al(l)an Quatermain is the protagonist of H. Rider Haggard's 1885 novel King Solomon's Mines. The character was recently reintroduced with the popular series League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (LXG) and in the eponymous film released in 2003, Sean Connery played the character Alan Quatermain. Quartermaine's Terms is a play by Simon Gray which won The Cheltenham Prize in 1982. Early History of the Quartermass familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Quartermass research. Another 68 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1618, 1662 and 1667 are included under the topic Early Quartermass History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Quartermass Spelling VariationsOnly recently has spelling become standardized in the English language. As the English language evolved in the Middle Ages, the spelling of names changed also. The name Quartermass has undergone many spelling variations, including Quartermain, Quartermaines, Quarterman, Quartermaynes, Quatermain, Quatermaines, Quaterman, Quatermay and many more. Early Notables of the Quartermass familyAnother 40 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Quartermass Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Migration of the Quartermass familyTo escape the unstable social climate in England of this time, many families boarded ships for the New World with the hope of finding land, opportunity, and greater religious and political freedom. Although the voyages were expensive, crowded, and difficult, those families that arrived often found greater opportunities and freedoms than they could have experienced at home. Many of those families went on to make significant contributions to the rapidly developing colonies in which they settled. Early North American records indicate many people bearing the name Quartermass were among those contributors: John Quarterman, on record in Virginia in 1742; and Joseph Quartman settled in Philadelphia in 1824.
- Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
- Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
- Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
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