Recorded as Botterell, Buttery, Buttrey and originally Boteri or Buteri, this is an English surname, but one of French origins. Probably introduced into the British Isles at or very shortly after the famous Conquest of England in 1066, the origination is from the word "boterie." As such it describes both a dry and cool place where provisions were kept for storage, and is also occupational for a keeper of a buttery. The preservation of foodstuffs was a perenial problem in ancient times, starvation always being just around the corner, and a person who was successful in this work, held a high and probably envious position amongst his fellows. Not surprisingly the surname is one of the earliest recorded with as examples such as William Buteri in the pipe rolls of Berkshire in the year 1177, during the reign of King Henry 11nd (1154 - 1189). Reginald Boteri is recorded in the Curia Regis rolls of the county of Hertfordshire in 1211, whilst another interesting recording is that of William de Buteri of Suffolk in 1219. He may have been from the "lost" medieval village of Buttery in the county of Shropshire, and this is almost certainly the case with John de la Boterye in the neighbouring county of Staffordshire in 1334.

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