This is an occupational name for one who covered roofs with slate, deriving from the Medieval English 's(c)late' meaning a slate, or the Old French 'esclat(e)', 'slat' or 'slater'. The surname from this source is first recorded in the mid 13th Century. Adam le Sclattere of Oxford and Walter Sclatten of Buckinghamshire are recorded in the Hundred Rolls of 1273. One Thomas Slater appears in the Subsidy Rolls of Yorkshire, 1297. In the modern idiom, the name has four spelling variations: Slator, Sclater, Slatter and Slatcher. On September 11th 1623, Luke Slatcher was christened in St. Katherine-by-the-Tower, London. William Slatcher married Elizabeth Turner on January 29th 1631 in St. Katherine-by-the-Tower, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Thomas le Sclatere, which was dated 1255, Middle English Surnames of Occupation for Worcestershire, during the reign of King Henry 111, 'The Frenchman', 1216-1272. 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.