This unusual surname is of Old German origin, and is an occupational name for a cultivator of edible produce in an orchard or kitchen garden, deriving from the Middle High German "gartenaere, gertner", from "gard", enclosure, with the addition of the agent suffix "er(e)". In its original sense "a man who has to do with", the "er(e)" designates persons according to their profession or occupation. In medieval times the function of the "gertner" was an important one, as he was responsible for cultivating produce for the market; the modern application of "gardener" referring to one who tends ornamental lawns and flower beds was much later. The surname first appears on record in the mid 13th Century (see below). In the modern idiom the name has six spelling variations: Gartner, Gertner, Gaertner, Kartner, Caertner and Cartner. On June 15th 1539, Conrad Gartner and Agnes Vollatin were married at Njernberg, Miltelfranken, Bayern, Germany, and on September 2nd 1589, Barbara Kartner was christened at Lauffen, Wuertt. The marriage of Johann Christoph Caertner to Johanna Dorothea Stuermer took place at Zittau, Bautzen, Sachsen, Germany, on February 11th 1765, and on April 3rd 1834, Maria Cartner married a George Worledge at All Souls, St. Marylebone, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Wernher der Gartenaere, which was dated 1240, in "Medieval Records of Esslingen", Germany, during the reign of Frederick 11, Hohenstaufen Emperor, 1215 - 1250. 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.

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