Sumpster Family History

From Middle English somester sumester probably a variant of Middle English somer sumur ‘packhorse man’ (see Summer) in which the suffix -ester has been substituted for the -er in somer as with Baxter for Baker and Webster for Webber. With this sense and with the common development of an intrusive /p/ between /m/ and /p/ somester will have been synonymous with Sumpter and probably confused with it; see (2).

Some of the following post-medieval examples beginning in Som- or Sum- may alternatively belong with (2) while some of those beginning in Sim- and Sem- may belong with Simister (2). Alternatively, Middle English somester sumester might denote ‘load bearer porter carrier’; compare Summer (iii).

Derivation from early Modern English summister ‘schoolman abridger’ as suggested in Bardsley is improbable. However, Bardsley notes several medieval examples (undated) of Sum(m)aster, Summayster, and Somayster while John Somaister degher (‘dyer’) 1332 in Subsidy Rolls (Exeter, Devon) may be compared with John le Mayster degher in the same document.

Bardsley records Samuel Summaster of Devon 1607 in Oxford University Register, and a Michael Summaster is recorded in 1623 in IGI (Truro, Cornwall). Perhaps a summayster was a weigh master, a man in charge of weighing wool, etc. at the market. It is unclear whether this name survived beyond the 17th century.

Variant of Sumpter with an intrusive -s-.