Cromar

This interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational name from either of two places. It may be from Cromar, a district on the north side of the middle reach of the river Dee, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, or from Cromer in Norfolk, recorded as "Crowmere" in the 1297 Catalogue of Ancient Deeds. Both placenames share the same meaning and derivation which is the Olde English pre 7th Century "crawe", crow, and "mere", lake, mere; hence, "crows lake". During the Middle Ages, when migration for the purpose of job-seeking was becoming more common, people often took their former village name as a means of identification, thus resulting in a wide dispersal of the name. In the modern idiom the surname can be found as Crummer, Cromer and Cromar. Recordings of the surname from various Church Registers include: the marriage of Agnes Cromer and James Wood on April 4th 1559, at Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, and the marriage of John Cromar and Margaret Bog on April 10th 1680, at Leochel-Cushnie, Aberdeenshire. One Thomas Cromar was accused of consulting a sorcerer in 1672, in Alford, Aberdeenshire. The Coat of Arms most associated with the family is a silver shield with three black wolves heads erased, on a red chief three gold cinquefoils, the Crest being a red rams head couped, charged with two silver palets. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Thome Cromer, which was dated August 20th 1539, witness at the christening of his son, Barnabas, at St. Stephen's, Norwich, Norfolk, during the reign of King Henry V111, known as "Bluff King Hal", 1509 - 1547. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.