Rimes

This very interesting name is of medieval job descriptive nickname for a Poet or Songster, probably one of the travelling minstrels recorded by Chaucer and others in the 14th Century. First recorded after the Norman Conquest, the derivation is from the Olde French Rimour or Rymour, the name development has included Warin Le Rhymer c.1300, Yorkshire whilst Roland Rime was recorded at Snodland, Kent in 1615 and Francis Rimes at Dover in 1629, Ferdinaid Rimar was found at Gravesend in 1604, and William Rimmer in London in 1612. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard le Rimour, which was dated 1277, in the Pipe Rolls of Lancashire, during the reign of King Edward 1, known as the Hammer of the Scots, 1272 - 1307. 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.