Hello Celia, I hope that you are well! SPACHER is a French name that I have come into contact with so perhaps this is the original source of the surname? Have you seen the SPATCHER forum on Genealogy.com? No posts for a while but I noticed that someone had Spatcher's originating from Padbury. Best wishes Linda Staffs UK Researching: Cook(e) Plant Mason Keys Pearsall and variants Broster Rastall Turner Smith Miller Dunn Walton ----- Original Message ----- From: "Celia Renshaw" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]>; <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, August 11, 2007 10:31 AM Subject: [BKM] Origin of surname SPATCHER > SPATCHERs (occasionally spelled SPACHER) were in the registers of Stowe > from > the start (1580). Outside of Stowe it's an incredibly rare name, up until > the 19th century. I'm trying to find the surname's meaning/origins and to > find out if there were SPATCHERs in north Bucks before 1580 - and I'm > having > trouble on both counts. Can anyone help? Anyone with a good surname > dictionary or guide to surname etymology who could do a lookup please? > The > online reference sources I've tried don't include the name. Does anyone > have any knowledge of the Stowe area pre-1580 who can guide on best places > to look for earlier SPATCHERs? > > Any ideas or advice much appreciated. > > Celia Renshaw > in Chesterfield UK