This interesting name is an English occupational surname for a steward, or proctor. The name is most commonly found in the north of England. The derivation is from the Middle English word "prok(e)tur", a contracted version of the Old French "procuraterour", from the latin "procurator", meaning "agent", from "pro" meaning "for", "on behalf of" and "curare" to deal with. The medieval proctor was usually an attorney in a spiritual court, but he could also be another official who collected taxes, or one who worked as an agent licensed to collect alms on behalf of lepers and enclosed orders of monks. One, John Procter a farmer aged 40, was one of the earliest emigrants to America, leaving London on the "Susan and Ellin" in 1635, bound for New England.The Coat of Arms most associated with the family has the blazon of a silver shield, a red chevron between ten red cross crosslet's six in chief and four in base. The Crest being a greyhound sejant. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Johanna la Proketour, which was dated 1301, in the Yorkshire Subsidy Rolls, during the reign of King Edward 1, known as the Hammer of the Scots, 1272 - 1307. 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.

© Copyright: Name Origin Research 1980 - 2024