The oldest reference to anyone using Carpenter as a surname is the following Calendar of Documents Preserved in France, Vol I, 1189-1199. I make this assumption because it would seem odd for a trade carpenter to become a member of a religious house. Bayeux is in Normandy. Was there a Carpenter family group in Normandy? Later when I introduce Elias Carpenter from Bordeaux in 1250, we will see that he was born there, indicating other Carpenters from the earlier 1200s in Gascony. "Charter of Jordan de Champern confirming to the cannons regular.......Gaufrido Carpentari. Priory of St. Stephen.Plessis-Grimould in the Diocese of Bayeux." Bruce Carpenter