MEREDITH

Meredith was first known as Palmer's Town, in honor of Samuel Palmer who surveyed much of the land surrounding Lake Winnipesaukee. Plamer's Town was one of the first towns to have a charter granted by the Masonian Proprietors (a group of merchants based in Portsmouth), and attracted many new settlers from Salem, Massachusetts, leading to the town being renamed New Salem. In 1768, however, New Salem's land was regranted and renamed for British parliamentarian Sir William Meredith.