408 WRITER members around the world

WRITER Family History

This is a medieval English surname. It is occupational and does describer one who wrote. It originates from the pre 7th century Olde English word 'writere' which translates as a copier of manuscripts, a very important occupation in the days before the introduction of printing from about 1480. As if suspecting that they were about to be upstaged, in 1422 the writers of London formed two separate craft guilds, which guaranteed a flow of work to the particular skills, since these could only be carrried out by guild members.