Wilmore

This interesting name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational surname deriving from either the place called 'Wildmore' in Lincolnshire or that called 'Weald Moors' in Shropshire. The place called 'Wildmore' is recorded as 'Wildemore' in the Lincolnshire Charters of 1198, and both it and the Shropshire village share the same meaning and derivation. The name means 'the wild or waste moor', derived from the Old English pre 7th Century elements 'wild', wild, waste, uncultivated, with 'mor', moor, marsh. Locational surnames were mainly acquired by those former inhabitants of a place who moved to another area, and were best identified by the name of their birthplace. The modern surname can be found as 'Wilmore' and 'Willmore'. The marriage of Edward Wilmore and Anne Lewes was recorded at St. Giles, Cripplegate, London, on April 17th 1609. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William de Wiltemore (witness), which was dated 1221, The Assize Court Rolls of Worcestershire, during the reign of King Henry 111, 'The Frenchman', 1216-1272. 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.