Lemar

Some names claim French-Huguenot origins, but cannot produce the evidence, in this case we have almost too much. The surname is habitational and equivalent to the English 'Pool' which is to say that it describes one who lives by a pond or lake. Sometimes people translate it as meaning 'The sea' but this is not correct. The spelling forms in France are usually Lamare, Lamarre, Lamard, or Mare, however the 'english' forms from the 16th century have generally been Le Mer, Lemare, and Lamar, although the 'original' spelling in the church recordings was often 'Le Maire'. Curiously the surname Delamar or Delamare, is much older in England dating back to the Norman Conquest, Henry de Lamara being recorded in Oxfordshire in 1130. Why this is so is not clear, but it probably is because the preposition 'de' was almost entirely out of use in England by the 16th century, and in France was used only by the aristocrats, to denote land ownership. Many Huguenot refugees were from the nobility, but the majority were from the highly skilled artisan classes. They were also puritan, and this often resulted in less than pretentious surnames. Examples of the surname recordings in England include Elias Lemar, a witness at St Vedast's Church, Foster Lane, London on September 13th 1612, whilst Judith Lamar, christened at St Ann's Church, Soho, on December 27th 1689 was the daughter of Barthelemy Lamar. We believe this to be the same Barthelemy who was christened at Threadneedle Street French Huguenot Church, on Christmas Day 1678, as Barthelemy Le Maire. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Abraham Le Maire, which was dated November 1st 1601, married Rebecca Lamoureux in London, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, known as 'Good Queen Bess', 1558 - 1603. 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.