Scripture

This interesting name drives from the Latin "Scriptor", a writer or clerk, an was originally given as an occupational name to one who held the office of writer or secretary. Grenton the Scriptor was writer of the charter of Duncan 11 to the monks of St. Cuthbert of Durham A.D., 1094 and he is noted in "Facsimiles of national manuscripts of Scotland" at Edinburgh. One, Jacobus Scriptore witnessed a charter by William filius Bernardi of the lands of Rath in the territory of Kater(l)yn, circa 1206, "The Register of Aberbrothoc Abbey", and a William Scriptor appears in the 1273 "Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire". In 1274 John Scriptore, noted in "The Register of Paisley Monastery", witnesses a charter of the lands of Kylmore. William Scripture, an infant, was christened in St. Bride's, Fleet Street, London on June 4th 1674. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ricardus Scriptor, which was dated 1158, "The Pipe Rolls of Somerset", during the reign of King Henry 11, "The Builder of Churches", 1154 - 1189. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.