Spencer (surname)

In early times, the surname was usually written as le Despenser, Dispenser or Despencer—notably in works such as the Domesday Book and the Scottish Ragman Rolls of 1291 and 1296, but gradually lost both the "le" article and the unstressed first syllable of the longer surname to become Spencer.

[16] Foreign equivalents: The name Spencer can be traced through its Latin and French roots to its Middle English and modern form.

[17] Robert d'Abbetot[nb 1] was granted titles, lands and a high position in William's court.

[18] Robert is assumed to have died shortly after restoring some estates to Westminster Abbey[18] but he appears to have had no legitimate male children, as his heir was his brother Urse d'Abetot.

Simon was father of a second Thurstan, who was active in the 1250s under Henry II, to be followed by his son Walter as Dispensator Regis.

He was followed by a son, Adam le Despenser, who was summoned by Edward I of England to perform military service and in 1283 to attend on the king in what was a precursor to the first royally-convened Parliament.

His heir was a son, Aymer le Despenser, but he alienated his lands and titles during the reign of Edward II.

The English aristocratic Spencer family has resided at their ancestral home at Althorp, Northamptonshire, since the early 16th century.

The family captured international attention when Lady Diana Frances Spencer married Prince Charles on 29 July 1981, until her death in a car crash in Paris on 31 August 1997.

As the end of the century approached, however, the family's growing social status would lead them to adopt a forged pedigree that gave them an ancient derivation, and they began using new arms that represented a claimed kinship with the (actually entirely unrelated) Lords Despencer, modifying the earlier family's quarterly arms by the addition of three escallops (scallop shells).

[29] Numerous variations of this differenced coat, along with various Spencer arms bearing no resemblance to those of the Lords le Despenser, have been catalogued.