Mounteer

Mounteer is a surname that probably originated in Cornwall, England.

Early Mounteers The origins of the name can be traced back to:

England Surrey The earliest documented Mounteer family in England is found in Surrey, where the surname appears continuously from the late 15th century through the late 17th century, migrating gradually from the North Downs toward London/Southwark. 1. Richard Mounteer (or Monter) died in Leatherhead, Surrey, England, in September 1488. He was married to Joan (died 1489). His son John Mounteer died March 3, 1569, in Merstham, Surrey, and daughter Frances died February 24, 1563, in Merstham, Surrey.Ancestry.com. Surrey, England: Parish and Probate Records [database on-line]. Provo, UT, US: The Generations Network, Inc., 2001. Leatherhead and Merstham are approximately eight miles apart in the North Downs belt of Surrey. 2. Edmond Mounter (died December 1606) of Bookham, in the County of Surrey, yeoman. His will, dated 15 January 1606 and proved 2 January 1607, identifies his wife Thomasine (Tomasie), whom he appointed sole executrix; his son Edny Mounter; his daughters Mary Mounter (unmarried) and Elizabeth, wife of Gilet (Giles) Hitchbye; and his granddaughter Katerine Mounter, daughter of Edny.London, England, Wills and Probate, 1507–1858 [database on-line]. Ancestry.com. Edmond Mounter, parish of Bentham [sic, Bookham], Surrey, probate 2 January 1607. Among other bequests, Edmond left Mary household goods including pewter and bedding, Elizabeth a coffer, Katerine ten shillings, and his servant Agnes Meades a bullock. He directed that he be buried in the church or churchyard of Fetcham (or Effingham). Bookham is approximately five miles from Leatherhead, where Richard Mounteer had died over a century earlier, indicating continued family presence in the same area of Surrey. 3. By the 1640s, a Mounteer family was established in the Bermondsey/Southwark area, approximately 15 miles north of the North Downs parishes. Ann Mounterewe (also indexed as Mounterone) married George Belford (or Bedford) on 30 March 1646 at St Olave's, Bermondsey, Tooley Street, Southwark.Ancestry.com. England, Select Marriages, 1538–1973 [database on-line]. FHL Film Number 375307. St Olave, Southwark, Surrey.Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538–1812 [database on-line]. Reference Number 16727079. St Olave, Bermondsey, Tooley Street, Southwark, Southwark, Surrey. 4. John Mountarne of St Mary Magdalene, Bermondsey, was living in the parish by the early 1650s. His infant or child son, also named John Mountarne, was buried at St Mary Magdalene, Bermondsey, on 28 February 1653.Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538–1812 [database on-line]. Reference Number 20129914. St Mary Magdalene, Bermondsey Street, Southwark, Southwark, Surrey. St Olave's and St Mary Magdalene were adjacent parishes in Bermondsey, and Ann Mounterewe and John Mountarne were likely members of the same family. 5. James Mounteer (recorded as "Thomas" in The National Archives catalogue), a mariner of St. Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey, Surrey, who died beyond the seas aboard the ship [?John and Mary]. His inventory, recording a single asset of £7 in unpaid wages from the ship, was exhibited at London on March 11, 1684/5, by his mother Mariam Mounteer. The November 11, 1681, date in the catalogue likely refers to his death. The catalogue (PROB 4/16849) records the first name as "Thomas," but the document itself is signed "James" by mark — the discrepancy is likely a clerical or indexing error in the PROB 6 act book from which the catalogue description derives.The National Archives (UK), PROB 4/16849 James was from the same Bermondsey parish as John Mountarne (no. 4 above); Mariam was likely John's wife or widow, making James a son or younger son of John Mountarne. Dorset The parish of Gillingham in north Dorset contains the earliest documented concentration of the Mountier surname, with records spanning at least four generations from the 1570s to the 1650s. A separate branch was established in Wool in south Dorset by the 1640s. 6. William Mountier (born c. 1540, Dorset, England) is the earliest known ancestor of the Dorset Mountier family. His origins and parentage are unknown. Five of his children were baptised at Gillingham, Dorset, between 1571 and 1580: Henry (baptised 22 April 1571), John (baptised 8 May 1574), Thomas (baptised 7 April 1576), Francis (baptised 26 March 1578), and Edith (baptised 10 February 1580).Ancestry.com. Dorset, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538–1812 [database on-line]. Gillingham parish registers. Dorset History Centre, ref. PE/GIL. RE 1/1. William Mountier of Gillingham and Edmond Mounter of Bookham, Surrey (no. 2 above) were exact contemporaries; whether they were related has not been established. His son Thomas Mountier (baptised 7 April 1576, Gillingham) had at least seven children recorded in the Gillingham registers, including Alice (born c. 1589), who married Robert Smart of Dorset; John; Eleanor; Agnes; Francis; William; and Susanna. By the 1640s, the next generation — Henry Mountier and Thomas Mountier, both described as "de Langham" (a hamlet within the parish of Gillingham) — were established in the area. All three Mountier men in the parish — Henry, Thomas, and a second Thomas (likely father and son) — appear on the Protestation Return for the Liberty of Gillingham in 1642.Gillingham Protestation Return, 1642, transcribed by Joy Waters for the Dorset Online Parish Clerks Project, from a book preserved at the House of Lords, copied in 1912 by Edward Alexander Fry. Available at opcdorset.org. The Gillingham burial register, written in Latin, records two associated burials: "Aynetha Mountier filia Thome Mountier de Langham" (Aynetha Mountier, daughter of Thomas Mountier of Langham), buried 22 May 1642; and "Aynetha Mountier uxor Henrici Mountier de Langha" (Aynetha Mountier, wife of Henry Mountier of Langham), buried 6 January 1645. The child was likely named after her aunt by marriage, suggesting that Thomas and Henry were brothers. 7. A separate but almost certainly related Mountier family (spelled Mounteour, Mounteer, or Mountyer in different documents) was established approximately 45 miles to the south in the parish of Wool, in the Liberty of Bindon, by the early 1640s. The 1641–42 Protestation Return for Wool, administered by the Rev. John Galton, Vicar of Coombe Keynes and Wool, lists three Mounteer men: John Mounteer, who served as ouseers for ye poore (Overseer of the Poor); and Thomas Mountyer, listed twice consecutively, indicating a senior and junior of the same name.Protestation Return, 1641–42, Wool Parish, Liberty of Bindon. Attestation: "All within the pish of wool have Taken this ptestacion as was by athority Commaunded Ministered by me John Galton vicar of Comb-kaynes and wooll." Transcription published in Parishmouse, "Wool Dorset Family History Guide." Thomas Mounteour senior married Agnes (née unknown). Agnes was buried at Wool on 11 November 1648.Ancestry.com. England, Select Dorset Church of England Parish Registers, 1538–1999 [database on-line]. Wool/Coombe Keynes parish registers. FHL Film Number 002427609.Ancestry.com. Dorset, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538–1812 [database on-line]. Wool parish registers. No baptism, marriage, or burial record for Thomas senior himself has been identified in publicly accessible indexes. Thomas Mounteour junior (identified in the registers as "Thomas Mounteour" and, on at least one occasion, as "the younger") married Joane (Joan). Their children baptised at Wool include: Thomas (baptised 14 October 1640); Joan (baptised 13 January 1641); John (baptised 23 January 1641, likely a twin with Joan given the ten-day interval); William (baptised 15 September 1645); and Edward (baptised 1 May 1648, born at "Wooll bridge," near the site of Woolbridge Manor). The burial register records: "Joane Mounteer daughter of Thomas Mounteer ye young[er] & Joane his wife was buryed at Wooll Novemb: 5" in 1652. John Mounteour (the Overseer of the Poor) married Elianor (Eleanor). Their known children include Elizabeth (baptised 19 November 1643). The precise relationship between the Wool and Gillingham branches has not been established from surviving records. The Wool parish registers begin in 1583 (marriages) and 1585 (christenings), so records documenting the arrival of the Mounteer family in Wool may survive in the original registers held at the Dorset History Centre in Dorchester. The Wool Mounteers lived through the English Civil War in an area of active conflict. Wool was situated between the contested towns of Wareham and Corfe Castle. The nearby ruins of Bindon Abbey were reportedly burned during the war. The Battle of Holmebridge (27 February 1644), fought between Royalist and Parliamentary forces approximately two miles west of Wareham, took place within a few miles of Wool. Agnes Mounteour's burial in November 1648 coincided with the final collapse of Royalist resistance and the onset of the Commonwealth. Kent