The name Webster is of Anglo-Saxon origin and is found mainly in Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Derbyshire, but also in London, Norfolk, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Staffordshire, and Cheshire, and is a variant of the occupational name Webb, also Webbe and Webber which was a name originally given to a weaver of cloth. The derivation is from the Olde English pre 7th Century ‘Wevva’, or ‘Webba’ developed into the Middle English ‘Webbe’, a derivative of ‘Wefan’, to weave. Job-descriptive surnames originally denoted the actual occupation of the name bearer, and later became hereditary. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John le Webestere, which was dated 1275, in the ‘Hundred Rolls of Norfolk’, during the reign of King Edward 1.

The areas with the highest number of Webster name concentrations within England and Wales, based on the 1841 census are, Derbyshire, Lancashire, London, and Yorkshire. Appropriately enough, Peter Webster originated from Whittington, moved to London, and became a successful merchant in the cloth trade, so the ‘weaver of cloth’ link to his surname fits both the hereditary use of the name and his job description.

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