Leomær

Male
DWP
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Discussion of the name

There is some evidence to suggest that a name Leo(m)mær was developing in its own right during the eleventh century, although Leomær is generally taken to represent an elided form of one of two Old English masculine names, Leodmær or Leofmær (comprising the elements lēod ‘man’ or lēof ‘dear’ respectively, compounded with mære ‘famous, great’); further details and spellings are given under those etyma.

There are several relevant entries in the PASE corpus, with the name Leomær being represented by Leommære 1, a benefactor of the New Minster at Winchester in or after the 980s, and Lemar 1, a catch-all category for occurrences of this name in DB; to these can be added three occurrences of Limmær (representing at least two different people) in the late eleventh-century guild-lists from Exeter, Leomar (here designated Leomær 2; see below) the father of the TRE Suffolk landholder Beorhtwulf 14 (Douglas 1932: 4), and Leommære, a Hertfordshire landowner mentioned in a will of 1014 but designated in PASE as Leofmær 1. In addition to this latter instance PASE includes a further seven entries under Leofmær and five under Leodmær, all from the eleventh century, although all but two of these relate to moneyers or DB catch-all categories.

Nevertheless, that the Leo(d/f/m)mær name-group was more common than these low frequencies imply is suggested not only by the number of instances of these names in DB but even more so by the presence of at least seven different people called Lemar or Lem(m)er in the lists of free men on St Edmund’s estates in a small area of central Suffolk in 1086 (Douglas 1932: 10, 14, 26, 28-9, 31-2, 35); these minor TRW landholders are noted in the profiles below.

Bibliography

Douglas 1932: Feudal Documents from the Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds, ed. D. C. Douglas (London, 1932)

Forms of the name

Spellings in Domesday Book: Leimer, Lemar(us), Lemei, Lemer(us)

Spellings in IE: Lemarais, Lemma

Spellings in ICC: Lemmarus

Spellings in FBB: Leomar, Lemmer

Forms in modern scholarship:

  von Feilitzen head forms: Lemar; cf. Lēodmær, Lēofmær

  Phillimore edition: Ledmer, Leofmer

  Alecto edition: Lemar, Leodmær, Leofmær

Distribution map of property and lordships associated with this name in DB

List of property and lordships associated with this name in DB

Holder 1066

Shire Phil. ref. Vill DB Spelling Holder 1066 Lord 1066 Tenant-in-Chief 1086 1086 Subtenant Fiscal Value 1066 Value 1086 Value Conf. Show on Map
Bedfordshire 25,12 Stanford Lemarus Leomær the beadle Edward, king William Espec Hugh de Beauchamp 1.00 1.00 0.75 D Map
Bedfordshire 57,3v Holme Lemarus Leomær the beadle - Alwine the king's reeve - 0.75 0.50 0.50 B Map
Buckinghamshire 23,21 Wingrave Lemar Leomær 'of Wingrave' Beorhtric, man of Queen Eadgyth Miles Crispin Thurstan the priest 0.50 0.50 0.50 C Map
Cambridgeshire 41,5 Babraham - Leomær 'of Babraham' Gyrth, earl Judith, countess - 0.38 0.20 0.20 D Map
Essex 90,61 Steeple Bumpstead Lemarus Leomær 'of Steeple Bumpstead' Wihtgar son of Ælfric Richard fitzGilbert Leomær 'of Steeple Bumpstead' 0.02 0.06 0.09 - Map
Hertfordshire 36,3 Graveley Lemarus Leomær 'of Graveley' Almær of Bennington Peter de Valognes Godfrey 'of Graveley' 2.38 4.00 2.00 E Map
Shropshire 4,27,19 Polmere Lemer Leomær 'of Whitton' - Roger, earl Alweard son of Æthelmund 0.25 0.10 0.05 A Map
Shropshire 4,4,19 Whitton Leimer Leomær 'of Whitton' - Roger, earl Roger fitzCorbet 0.50 0.15 0.25 A Map
Surrey 21,2 Mitcham Lemarus Leomær 'of Mitcham' Edward, king William fitzAnsculf - 2.25 2.00 2.00 C Map
Sussex 10,80 Langney Lemar Leomær 'of Langney' - Robert, count of Mortain Ranulph 'the man of Robert, count of Mortain' 0.50 0.21 0.13 B Map
Totals

Subtenant in 1086

Shire Phil. ref. Vill DB Spelling Holder 1066 Lord 1066 Tenant-in-Chief 1086 1086 Subtenant Fiscal Value 1066 Value 1086 Value Conf. Show on Map
Essex 90,61 Steeple Bumpstead Lemarus Leomær 'of Steeple Bumpstead' Wihtgar son of Ælfric Richard fitzGilbert Leomær 'of Steeple Bumpstead' 0.02 0.06 0.09 A Map
Essex B3a Colchester Lemerus - - William, king Leomær, burgess of Colchester 0.08 0.00 0.00 A Map
Surrey 19,2 Bletchingley Lemei Æthelnoth Cild Edward, king Richard fitzGilbert Leomær 'of Bletchingley' 0.17 0.22 0.10 -, A, - Map
Surrey 19,2 Bletchingley Lemei Alwine 'of Bletchingley' Edward, king Richard fitzGilbert Leomær 'of Bletchingley' 1.83 2.38 1.12 -, A, - Map
Totals