Dempster Family History

English Manx and Scottish: occupational name for a judge or arbiter of minor disputes from Middle English demester(e) ‘judge’. Although this was originally a feminine form of the masculine dēmere (see Deamer), 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.

In Scotland, until 1747 every laird of a barony could have certain offenses within his territory tried by his dempster.

On the Isle of Man, deemsters also played an important part in the administration of justice.