Dallimore - Name

Recorded as Delamere, Delamer, De la Mare, Delamare, Delamarr, Dallimare, Dallamore, Dallemore, Dallimore, and others, this is an English surname, although with an early dash of French. It was locational, and in its early days from one of the various places in Normandy called La Mare. Whilst this can mean the sea, "mare" was used for water of any size be it a pool, pond, or lake. However whilst that is without doubt the origin of early nameholders, it does not have to be French at all. It may look French, because for three hundred year after the Norman Conquest of 1066, French was the official language of England, but this name was essentially English. During that period surnames as we know them today, were created and many derived not from "mare" but from the old English words mere, marsh or moor, although with the French prepositions. Early recordings include William de la Mere of Essex in 1260, and Henry Dalamare of Yorkshire in 1385. George Booth (1622 - 1684) was the first Baron Delamere, whilst other recordings include Lewis Delamere, christened on September 29th 1754 at Christchurch, Spitalfields, and Thomas Dallimore, a christening witness at St Martins in the Field, Westminster, on August 21st 1803. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Henry de Lamara. This was dated 1130, in the Pipe Rolls of Oxfordshire, during the reign of King Henry Ist, known as The Lion of Justice, 1100 - 1135. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.