"Originally, potters worked not only in ceramics but also in metalworking and bell-casting. Potters were well-distributed geographically, and the surname has several variations, including Potman, Potisman, pott and Potts. Like many surnames it occurs in Norman French, Old English and Latin forms. In the twelfth century records of the knights of Templar, a man named Nigellus filius Poteman, or Nigel, son of the potter was recorded as living in Kent in 1185. According to the Winton Domesday there was a Richard Pot living in Winchester in 1115, and the Curia Regis roll for the Leicestershire notes a Geoffrey le Poter in 1196. In the following year, John le Potier appears in the Essex Pipe rolls, while in the Curia Regis rolls for the same country, Lambert le Poter was named in 1214. Richard de la Potte or Attepotte appears in two Sussex records, the Curia Regis rolls of 1221, and the Calender of Patent rolls of 1228.
In 1296, the Subsidy rolls of Sussex recorded a William Poteman and a Margaret atte Potte, who lived either at Pothill Farm or Potcommon, in the West Grinstead, Sussex. In this instance, the Old English word ‘pott’ was used topographically to describe a hole or a pit, and this is occasionally the deviation of the suranme. Another woman, Petronella Potes appears in Colchester records of 1311, and much later, in 1540, a William Potter was noted in Whitby, Yorkshire.
By this time the surname moved away from its roots, and some Potters has already grown rich and risen to new heights in society. Within three-quarters of a century, one – Barnaby Potter – was to penetrate the royal establishment.
The son of Thomas Potter, a Westmoreland mercer, Barnaby Potter (1577-1642) was a scholar and clergyman educated at a Puritan school. His strong puritan leanings should have meant antagonism between him and the royal family – members of this particular religious sect formed the most vocal opposition to King Charles I. In fact, Charles seemed rather fond of him. When he was provost of Queen’s College, Oxford, Potter attracted the attention of the then king, James I, and when Charles I came to the throne in 1625 he appointed Potter his chaplin. Three years later he became the king’s chief almoner, responsible for distributing royal charity, and soon afterwards, Bishop of Carlisle."
(Family History, No. 15, Dec. 1996 p. 26)
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