Mortimer () is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

surname, and occasionally a given name.

Norman origins

The surname Mortimer has a Norman origin, deriving from the village of Mortemer,

Seine-Maritime Seine-Maritime () is a department of France in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Infér ...

, Normandy. A Norman castle existed at Mortemer from an early point; one 11th century figure associated with the castle was Roger, lord of Mortemer, who fought in the Battle of Mortemer in 1054. The 12th century abbey of Mortemer at Lisors near

Lyons-la-Forêt Lyons-la-Forêt () is a commune of the Eure department, Normandy, in northwest France. Lyons-la-Forêt has distinctive historical geography, and architecture, and contemporary culture, as a consequence of the Forest of Lyons, and its bocage, and ...

is assumed to share the same etymological origin, and was granted to the Cistercian order by Henry II in the 1180s. According to the toponymists

Albert Dauzat Albert Dauzat (; 4 July 1877 – 31 October 1955) was a French linguist specializing in toponymy and onomastics. Dauzat, a student of Jules Gilliéron, was a director of studies at the École des hautes études École may refer to: * an element ...

and later, François de Beaurepaire, there are two possible explanations for such a place name:

First, a small pond must have already existed before the land was given to the monks and have already been called ''Mortemer'' like the two other ''Mortemers'', because the word ''mer'' "pond" was not used anymore beyond the Xth century. This word is only attested in North-Western France and of Frankish or
Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country ( Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the No ...
origin ''mari/meri'' " mere", "lake"; ''mort(e)'' "dead" is also quite common to mean "stagnant" (in
Port-Mort Port-Mort () is a commune in the Eure department in Normandy in northern France. Population See also *Communes of the Eure department The following is a list of the 585 communes of the Eure department of France. The communes cooperate in ...
"the port with stagnant water", Morteau "dead water", etc.).François de Beaurepaire, ''Les noms des communes et anciennes paroisses de la Seine-Maritime'', éditions Picard, 1979, p. 113 . Second, the monks could have given the name ''Mortemer'' to their drainage lake to remember the other Mortemer for any kind of reason we don't know, making a pun at the same time with ''Mer Morte'' "
Dead Sea The Dead Sea ( he, יַם הַמֶּלַח, ''Yam hamMelaḥ''; ar, اَلْبَحْرُ الْمَيْتُ, ''Āl-Baḥrū l-Maytū''), also known by other names, is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank ...
".

Medieval magnates

In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, the Mortimers became a powerful dynasty of

Marcher Lord A Marcher lord () was a noble appointed by the king of England to guard the border (known as the Welsh Marches) between England and Wales. A Marcher lord was the English equivalent of a margrave (in the Holy Roman Empire) or a marquis (in Fran ...

s in the

Welsh Marches The Welsh Marches ( cy, Y Mers) is an imprecisely defined area along the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom. The precise meaning of the term has varied at different periods. The English term Welsh March (in Medieval Latin ...

, first as barons of

Wigmore Castle Wigmore Castle is a ruined castle about from the village of Wigmore in the northwest region of Herefordshire, England. History Wigmore Castle was founded after the Norman Conquest, probably c.1070, by William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Herefo ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

and later as

Earl of March Earl of March is a title that has been created several times in the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of England. The title derived from the "marches" or borderlands between England and either Wales (Welsh Marches) or Scotland (Scottish Marc ...

from 1328 to 1425. Through marriage, the Mortimers came close to the English throne during the reign of

Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father d ...

, though their royal claim was ignored after Richard II's deposition by his cousin Henry of Bolingbroke in 1399. The Mortimer claims were later inherited by the

House of York The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. Three of its members became kings of England in the late 15th century. The House of York descended in the male line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, t ...

, which claimed the throne upon the Earl of March

Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in Englan ...

's victory in the

Battle of Towton The Battle of Towton took place on 29 March 1461 during the Wars of the Roses, near Towton in North Yorkshire, and "has the dubious distinction of being probably the largest and bloodiest battle on English soil". Fought for ten hours between a ...

, 1461. Members of the noble Mortimer family included: *

Ranulph de Mortimer Ranulph I de Mortimer (''Ralf'', ''Ralph'', ''Raoul de Mortemer'') (born before c. 1070–died in/after 1104) was a Marcher Lord from the Montgomery lands in the Welsh Marches (border lands between Wales and England). In England, he was Lord of Wi ...

, Lord of Wigmore, Herefordshire and Seigneur of St Victor-en-Caux,

, Normandy * Hugh de Mortimer, Lord of Wigmore * Roger Mortimer, Lord of Wigmore * Ralph de Mortimer, Lord of Wigmore *

Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Mortimer Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Mortimer of Wigmore (1231 – 27 October 1282), of Wigmore Castle in Herefordshire, was a marcher lord who was a loyal ally of King Henry III of England and at times an enemy, at times an ally, of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd ...

(1231–1282) ** Isabella Mortimer, Countess of Arundel (after 1247–before 1 April 1292/after 1300) *

Edmund Mortimer, 2nd Baron Mortimer Edmund Mortimer, 2nd Baron Mortimer of Wigmore (c. 1251 – 17 July 1304) was the second son and eventual heir of Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Mortimer of Wigmore. His mother was Maud de Braose, Baroness Mortimer, Maud de Braose. Life As a younger ...

(1251–1304) *

Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March Roger Mortimer, 3rd Baron Mortimer of Wigmore, 1st Earl of March (25 April 1287 – 29 November 1330), was an English nobleman and powerful Marcher Lord who gained many estates in the Welsh Marches and Ireland following his advantageous marria ...

(1287–1330) ** Edmund Mortimer (1302–1331) **

Katherine Mortimer, Countess of Warwick Katherine Mortimer, Countess of Warwick (1314 – 4 August 1369) was the wife of Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick KG, an English peer, and military commander during the Hundred Years War. She was a daughter and co-heiress of Roger Mort ...

(1314–1369) **

Agnes Mortimer, Countess of Pembroke Agnes Mortimer, Countess of Pembroke (1317 – 25 July 1368) was the wife of Laurence Hastings, 1st Earl of Pembroke. She was a daughter of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March and Joan de Geneville, Baroness Geneville. Family Agnes Mortimer was ...

(1317–1368) *

Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March Sir Roger de Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March, 4th Baron Mortimer of Wigmore, KG (11 November 132826 February 1360) was an English nobleman and military commander during the Hundred Years' War. He was the son of Sir Edmund Mortimer (d. 1331) an ...

(1328–1360) * Thomas Mortimer (c. 1350–1399), illegitimate member of the Mortimer family who opposed Richard II *

Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March Edmund de Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March and ''jure uxoris'' Earl of Ulster (1 February 135227 December 1381) was the son of Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March, by his wife Philippa, daughter of William Montagu, 1st Earl of Salisbury and Catherine G ...

(1352–1381) **

Edmund Mortimer (1376–1409) Sir Edmund Mortimer IV (10 December 1376 – January 1409) was an English nobleman and landowner who played a part in the rebellions of the Welsh leader Owain Glyndŵr and of the Percy family against King Henry IV, at the beginning of the 15th ...

Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March Roger de Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, 6th Earl of Ulster (11 April 137420 July 1398) was an English nobleman. He was considered the heir presumptive to King Richard II, his mother's first cousin. Roger Mortimer's father, the 3rd Earl of Marc ...

(1374–1398) *

Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, 7th Earl of Ulster (6 November 139118 January 1425), was an English nobleman and a potential claimant to the throne of England. A great-great-grandson of King Edward III of England, he was heir presumptive t ...

(1391–1425)

Other people

* Amanda Jay Mortimer (born 1944), American urban planner and consultant * Angela Mortimer (born 1932), British tennis player * Bob Mortimer (born 1959), English comedian and actor * Carole Mortimer (born 1960), English romance novelist * Chris Mortimer (born 1958), Australian rugby league footballer * Conor Mortimer, Irish Gaelic football player *

Daniel Mortimer Daniel Mortimer (born 13 June 1989) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played as a or for the Leigh Centurions in the Betfred Championship. He previously played for the Parramatta Eels, Gold Coast Titans, Syd ...

(born 1989), Australian rugby league footballer * Debra Mortimer, Australian judge *

Edmund Mortimer (actor) Edmund Mortimer (born Edmund Mortimer Olson; August 21, 1874 – May 21, 1944) was an American actor and film director. Early years Mortimer's family was "prominent socially in Brooklyn and Washington". His father (also named Edmund Mo ...

(1874–1944), American actor and film director *

Emily Mortimer Emily Kathleen Anne Mortimer (born 6 October 1971) is a British-American actress. She began acting in stage productions and has since appeared in several film and television roles. In 2003, she won an Independent Spirit Award for her performanc ...

(born 1971), English actress * Favell Lee Mortimer (1802–1878), English Evangelical author of educational books for children * Frank Mortimer (1932–2009), English rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s * Gary Mortimer (born 1967), English aeronaut *

George Ferris Whidborne Mortimer George Ferris Whidborne Mortimer (22 July 1805 – 7 September 1871) was an English schoolmaster and divine. Biography Mortimer was born on 22 July 1805 at Bishopsteignton in Devonshire, was the eldest son of William Mortimer, a country gentl ...

(1805–1871), English schoolmaster and divine * Ian Mortimer (born 1983), Canadian sprint canoeist *

Ian Mortimer (historian) Ian James Forrester Mortimer, (born 22 September 1967) is a British historian and writer of historical fiction. He is best known for his book ''The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England'', which became a ''Sunday Times'' bestseller in pap ...

(born 1967), British writer * James Mortimer (1833–1911), American chess player, journalist and playwright * James Mortimer (hurdler) (born 1983), New Zealand hurdler * Jill Mortimer (elected 2021), British Conservative politician, MP for Hartlepool *

John Mortimer Sir John Clifford Mortimer (21 April 1923 – 16 January 2009) was a British barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author. He is best known for novels about a barrister named Horace Rumpole. Early life Mortimer was born in Hampstead, Londo ...

(c. 1656 – 1736), English agriculturalist *

(1923–2009), British barrister, dramatist, screenwriter and author * John B. Mortimer, Hong Kong judge * John Hamilton Mortimer (1740–1779), British painter *

John Robert Mortimer John Robert Mortimer (15 June 1825 – 19 August 1911) was an English corn-merchant and archaeologist who lived in Driffield, East Riding of Yorkshire. He was responsible for the excavation of many of the notable barrows in the Yorkshire Wolds ...

(1825–1911), Yorkshire corn merchant and archaeologist * Kenneth Mortimer, President Emeritus of Western Washington University, eleventh president of the University of Hawai`i system and Chancellor of the University of Hawai`i at Manoa 1993–2001 * Maddie Mortimer (born 1966), British writer * Mary Mortimer (1816–1877), British-born American educator * Minnie Mortimer (born 1980), American fashion designer and socialite *

Richard Mortimer Richard Mortimer (April 24, 1852 – March 15, 1918) was an American real estate investor and society leader during the Gilded Age. Early life Mortimer was born in New York City on April 24, 1852. He was the son of William Yates Mortimer (1824� ...

(1852–1918), American real estate investor and society leader * Roger Mortimer (racing) (1909–1991), British horse-racing correspondent * Steve Mortimer (born 1956), Australian rugby league footballer * Thomas Mortimer (1730–1810), English writer in the field of economics *

Tinsley Mortimer Tinsley Randolph Mortimer (née Mercer; born August 11, 1975) is an American socialite and television personality. She is known for starring in the reality television series ''High Society'' and ''The Real Housewives of New York City''. Early l ...

(born 1976), American socialite * Tony Mortimer (born 1970), British songwriter, composer, singer and rapper; member of British 1990s pop group East 17

Fictional characters

* Colonel Douglas Mortimer, played by

Lee Van Cleef Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef Jr. (January 9, 1925 – December 16, 1989) was an American actor. He appeared in over 170 film and television roles in a career spanning nearly 40 years, but is best known as a star of Italian Spaghetti Westerns, parti ...

in the film ''

For a Few Dollars More ''For a Few Dollars More'' ( it, Per qualche dollaro in più) is a 1965 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone. It stars Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef as bounty hunters and Gian Maria Volonté as the primary villain. German ac ...

'' * Dr. Mortimer, in the Sherlock Holmes novel ''

The Hound of the Baskervilles ''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' is the third of the four crime novels by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serialised in '' The Strand Magazine'' from August 1901 to April 1902, it is se ...

'' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle * Lord Mortimer, played by Billy House in the 1946 film ''

Bedlam Bedlam, a word for an environment of insanity, is a term that may refer to: Places * Bedlam, North Yorkshire, a village in England * Bedlam, Shropshire, a small hamlet in England * Bethlem Royal Hospital, a London psychiatric institution and the ...

'' * Philip Mortimer, a protagonist in ''

Blake and Mortimer ''Blake and Mortimer'' is a Belgian comics series created by the writer and comics artist Edgar P. Jacobs. It was one of the first series to appear in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine '' Tintin'' in 1946, and was subsequently published in book ...

'', a Belgian comics series created by Edgar P. Jacobs * Mortimer Brewster, a protagonist in '' Arsenic and Old Lace'' and its film adaptation * Mortimer Crane, the protagonist of the novel ''Summer Never Ends'' by

Waldo Frank Waldo David Frank (August 25, 1889 – January 9, 1967) was an American novelist, historian, political activist, and literary critic, who wrote extensively for ''The New Yorker'' and ''The New Republic'' during the 1920s and 1930s. Frank is best ...

* Mortimer Delvile, in the novel ''Cecilia'' by

Frances Burney Frances Burney (13 June 1752 – 6 January 1840), also known as Fanny Burney and later Madame d'Arblay, was an English satirical novelist, diarist and playwright. In 1786–1790 she held the post as "Keeper of the Robes" to Charlotte of Mecklen ...

* Mortimer Duke, in the movie

Trading Places ''Trading Places'' is a 1983 American comedy film directed by John Landis, with a screenplay by Timothy Harris and Herschel Weingrod. Starring Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Denholm Elliott, and Jamie Lee Curtis, th ...

, played by

Don Ameche Don Ameche (; born Dominic Felix Amici; May 31, 1908 – December 6, 1993) was an American actor, comedian and vaudevillian. After playing in college shows, stock, and vaudeville, he became a major radio star in the early 1930s, which l ...

* Mortimer Harren, a male crewman in '' Star Trek: Voyager'', appearing in the episode 'Good Shepherd' * Mortimer Scharff, the driver of the hearse Shadow in the popular destruction derby franchise

Twisted Metal ''Twisted Metal'' is a series of vehicular combat video games published by Sony Computer Entertainment, and developed by various companies. The series has appeared on the PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3. As o ...

* Mortimer Snerd, a ventriloquist's dummy employed by

Edgar Bergen Edgar John Bergen (born Edgar John Berggren; February 16, 1903 – September 30, 1978) was an American ventriloquist, actor, comedian, vaudevillian and radio performer, best known for his proficiency in ventriloquism and his characters C ...

* Mortimer McMire, the primary antagonist of the ''

Commander Keen ''Commander Keen'' is a series of side-scrolling video game, side-scrolling platform game, platform video games developed primarily by id Software. The series consists of six main episodes, a "lost" episode, and a final game; all but the final ga ...

'' series * Mortimer Mouse, a Disney character and rival of Mickey Mouse * Mortimer "Morte" Rictusgrin, a character and companion in the video game '' Planescape: Torment'' * Mortimer "Morty" Smith, one of the two lead characters in ''

Rick and Morty , creator = Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon , developer = , voices = {{plainlist, * Justin Roiland * Chris Parnell * Spencer Grammer * Sarah Chalke * Kari Wahlgren , composer = Ryan Elder , count ...

'' * Mortimer Toynbee (Toad), a mutant in the ''

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in 1970 due to ...

'' comics * Mortimer, lead character in ''Mortimer'', by

Robert Munsch Robert Norman Munsch (born June 11, 1945) is an American-Canadian children's author. Personal life and career Robert Munsch was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on June 11, 1945. He grew up in a family of 9 children. He graduated from Fordh ...

* Mortimer "Mort" Goldman, a stereotypical Jewish man in

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their ...

References

{{surnames English-language surnames Surnames of Norman origin