Bachelor

This notable and long-established surname is of Old French origin, and is a status name for a young knight or novice at arms, deriving from the Old French "bacheler", from the medieval Latin "baccalarius". The name was introduced into England by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066, and was adopted into Middle English. By the 14th Century the word "bachelor" had already been extended to mean "(young) unmarried man", but it is unlikely that many bearers of the surname derive it from the word in that sense. Early examples of the surname include: Stephen le Bachilier (Suffolk, 1203); Walter le Bachelor (Surrey, 1248); and Magg' (Margaret) Bacheler, noted in the 1273 Hundred Rolls of Huntingdonshire. In Scotland, the name has acquired an added meaning, that of "young tenant farmer" or "holder of a small farm". In 1296, William Bacheler was burgess of Haddington, East Lothian, and David Bachelar was serjeant of Forfar in 1472. In the modern idiom the name has several spelling variations, ranging from Bachelor, Bachellier, Batchelar and Batchellor, to Batchelour, Batchelder and Batcheldor. On February 17th 1617, John Batchellor and Susan Reynoulds were married at St. Katherine by the Tower, London. A Coat of Arms granted to the Batchel(l)or family is a silver shield with three gold fleurs-de-lis on a green bend between three single azure wings. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Roger Bachelere, which was dated circa 1165, in the "Chartulary of Staffordshire", during the reign of King Henry 11, known as "The Builder of Churches", 1154 - 1189. 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.