Despenser meaning | Last name Despenser origin

Despenser is the variant of Spencer. One who dispensed, or had charge of, the provisions in a household.

The surname is a form of Spencer. Steward, butler.

The surname Despenser is variation of the Despencer. See Spencer or Spenser - In the eighteenth year of William the Conqueror lived Robertus Dispensator, otherwise called Le Despencer, because he was steward to the king. In the reign of Henry I, there were a William le Despencer and a Thurstan Dispencer, but whether these last were only successors in office, or actual descendants of Robert is not known, and the like uncertainty prevails as to subsequent bearers of the name. The unpopular Spencers of the time of Edward II are traced by genealogists only to the reign of Henry III, though they may have been of much older date. Earl Spencer's family "claim a collateral descent from the baronial house, a claim which, without being irreconcileable perhaps with the early pedigrees of that family, admits of very grave doubts and con siderable difficulties." The Earl's pedigree is, however, clearly traced to the reign of Henry VI in Northamptonshire. The author of the Faery Queen boasted that he belonged to this family, though "the precise link of genealogical connexion cannot now perhaps be ascertained."

See Spenser or Spencer - A more correct orthography of Spencer.

A form of Spencer. In the eighteenth year of William the Conqueror lived Robertus Dispensator, otherwise called Le Despencer, because he was steward to the king. In the reign of Henry I, there were a William le Despencer and a Thurstan Dispencer, but whether these last were only successors in office, or actual descendants of Robert is not known, and the like uncertainty prevails as to subsequent bearers of the name. The unpopular Spencers of the time of Edward II are traced by genealogists only to the reign of Henry III, though they may have been of much older date. Earl Spencer's family "claim a collateral descent from the baronial house, a claim which, without being irreconcileable perhaps with the early pedigrees of that family, admits of very grave doubts and con siderable difficulties." The Earl's pedigree is, however, clearly traced to the reign of Henry VI in Northamptonshire. The author of the Faery Queen boasted that he belonged to this family, though "the precise link of genealogical connexion cannot now perhaps be ascertained."

A variant of the Spenser. A more correct orthography of Spencer.