Marmyon

This is a famous surname of French, pre-medieval origins. Introduced into England at the time of the Norman Conquest by Robert de Marmyon, Lord of Fontney in Normandy, it is now generally spelt as Marmion or Marmon. It was for many years one of the most famous names in England and France, and according to the Dictionary of French Surnames, it was a soubriquet or nickname. If so the derivation is from the word 'marmot', which describes the small animal known as the mountain mouse. What is surprising is in England how such a family, famous for their passage of arms, and who at one time held English estates in the counties of Warwickshire, Yorkshire, Devonshire, Nottinghamshire, Gloucestershire, Leicestershire, and possibly the city of Oxford, came to be called from the marmot, one of natures less warlike breeds, is unproven. However many nickname surnames often represented the exact opposite of what they appear to portray. What is also surprising is how the original family with its many descendants and holding the barony of Tamworth, in Warwickshire, as well as holding the honary title of Queen's Champion, seem to have totally lost both their lands and estates, with many branches becoming extinct. This seems to have started when Baron Marmyon of Wetrington who had three daughters, died in circa 1270. With his death the title of Champion passed to the Dymokes of Scrivelsby by marriage. The coat of arms with the blazon of Vair, a fesse gules, was confirmed to William Trussell of Nottinghamshire in 1614, it having passed to him by marriage from Bridget Marmyon, the daughter of Henry Marmyon.