Guild of One-Name Studies
One-name studies, Genealogy
Study: Chater
Variants: Chaters
Category: 1 - A study where research using core genealogical datasets and transcriptions is in its early stages.
DNA website: www.familytreedna.com/groups/chater
Contact: Mrs Susan Potter
CHATER/CHATERS
My name is Sue and my maiden name was Chater.
Then in 1999, I volunteered to join a local school committee and to assist me with the agenda's and minutes , we purchased the families first computer and my first family tree programme.
I found out my little scrap of paper and entered the details that I had recorded so many years before.
For some years, I researched other family lines and then decided to concentrate on my Chater side.
As I began trawling through the birth, death and marriage indexes for my Chater's, I realised that Chater was not a very common name and that there weren't many Chater's on each index. So I then decided to try and record all the Chater's for England and then go world-wide.
And so I began and ever since I have been slowly collecting Chater information and now have over 16,000 individuals in my research file.
Some information has been supplied by other researchers with Chater links in their own lines.
My research is very much a work in progress and I am continually adding details to my research file.
I became a Member of the Guild of One Name Studies in 2006 and this has helped immensly with my research.
During the course of my research, I found that there were variants on the Chater name, which include Chaytor, Chayter or Chaters.
I have also started a study into the name of Chaters to see how this name is linked with the Chater one.
If you would like information on the Chater or Chaters name, please contact me.
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Primarily I am interested in the surname Chater.
Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to 'develop' often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.
Eventually, I will progress onto the variants of Chaytor, or Chayter.
Variations in the idiom of the spelling includes Cater, Cator, Chatees, Chatter or Chatters
This interesting surname of English origin is an occupational name for the buyer of provisions for a large household.
It is derived from the Anglo Norman French 'acatour' meaning 'a buyer for a house'.
The name dates back to the early 13th Century, (see below). Further recordings include Robert le Achatour (1229) 'The Rolls of the Abbey of Ramsey, Cambridgeshire'. Elias le Katur (1271) 'The Court Rolls of the Abbey of Ramsey and of the Honox of Clare, Cambridgeshire'.
The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William le Chatur, which was dated 1220, Pipe Rolls of Bedfordshire,
This is one reported origin from a website search. I will need to do some more research into the origin of the name Chater.
The census records for England show the number of Chater and Chaters were as follows:
1841 - CHATER 592, CHATERS 61
1851 - CHATER 663, CHATERS 31
1861 - CHATER 726, CHATERS 54
1871 - CHATER 845, CHATERS 29
1881 - CHATER 916, CHATERS 44
1891 - CHATER 1016, CHATERS 56
1901 - CHATER 1189, CHATERS 30
1911 - CHATER 1334, CHATERS 47
CHATER
From 1837-1849 there were 306 occurances of Chater births registered.
Where instances were more than 10 incidences in this period produced the following statistics:
22.0% - Warwickshire
13.0% - Northamptonshire
9.0% - Northumberland
7.0% - Worcestershire
4.5% - Leicestershire
3.5% - Middlesex
3.2% - Leicestershire
3.0% - Surrey
There were large pockets of the surname Chater in Warwickshire, Northamptonshire, Northumberland and Worcestershire - primarily in Southam, Rugby, Daventry, Tynemouth and Dudley areas respectively.
As I collate more information I will update this section accordingly.
CHATERS
However, the occurances of the name Chaters shows different information.
From 1837-1900 there were only 57 occurances of Chaters births registered.
These 57 births were recorded in the following areas:
54.23% - County Durham
25.42% - Northumberland
5.08% - Warwickshire
5.08% - West Riding Yorkshire
The remainder lived in London, Cumberland, Decon and Suffolk areas
Again, as I have more information I will update this section.
Birth Indexes for England from 1837-2006
Marriage Indexes for England from 1837-2005
Death Indexes for England from 1837-2006
Census records for England covering 1841,1851,1861,1871,1881,1891, 1901 and 1911.
Birth, Marriage and Death records from the IGI.
Some of the registration indexes are held in the archive on this site.
This is always a work in progress and I am continually finding new information.
I have just started a DNA study, and would be happy to hear from anyone interested in taking part.
Useful websites that I have used to undertake the research are:
www.freebmd.org.uk
https://worldconnect.rootsweb.com
www.ancestry.co.uk
www.familysearch.org
www.halesowenroots.com
www.ukbmd.org.uk
www.findmypast.co.uk
www.tribalpages.com