The dempster Surname
dempster Name Meaning and History
- Scottish, Manx, and English: occupational name for a judge or arbiter of minor disputes, from Old English dem(e)stre, a derivative of the verb demian ‘to judge or pronounce judgement’. Although this was originally a feminine form of the masculine demere, by the Middle English period the suffix -stre had lost its feminine force, and the term was used of both sexes. The surname is not common in England, where the term was early replaced by Anglo-Norman French juge (see Judge), but relatively frequent in Scotland, where until 1747 every laird of a barony could have certain offenses within his territory tried by his dempster, and on the Isle of Man, where deemsters also played an important part in the administration of justice.
- Irish (especially County Down): as 1, but also occasionally used instead of Dempsey.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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Dempster message board
Threads: 100 - Messages: 283
| Thread | Author | Replies |
| Dempsters in Ireland |
 dogcat06
| 40 |
| Seeking Cornelius Dempster - 4th Pennsylvania Cavalry, Civil War |
JoeNihen
| 0 |
| James Dempster 1794 - 1880 |
Patticlogg1
| 0 |
| Dempster Family information Needed | Darlene | 5 |
| dempster/carberry marriage | verenelli | 11 |
| Dempster |
xxb1caez01
| 17 |
| Margaret Dempster |
CHarvey0770
| 5 |
| Dempster Family |
bnanderson_1
| 1 |
| Annie Dempster & Martin Trotter, New Cumnock, Ayr, Scotland |
cbackhoe
| 1 |
| Dempster | Mary (Morrison) Forsythe | 17 |
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