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![Show Contents]() Biddemend History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
- Origins Available:
 England
The name Biddemend is from the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name was given to a person who was a person hired to pray for another's soul after his death. The surname Biddemend is derived from the Old English terms bede, which means prayer, and man, which means man. In medieval England, there were also beadhouses, or almshouses for the poor, where the inhabitants were required to pray for their benefactors. In a publication by Skelton in 1528, he wrote of Other smale mynisters, as reders and singers, bedemen and bellringers. Early Origins of the Biddemend familyThe surname Biddemend was first found in Somerset, where they held a family seat from the Middle Ages. Lawrence Bedeman or Stevine (fl. 1372-1410), was a supporter of Wycliffe who appears first, in 1372, as a scholar of Stapeldon Hall. He was ultimately rector, holding this office from 1379 to 1380. After this he was made rector of Lifton, in Devonshire, and held this benefice as late as 11 June 1410, when he was licensed to preach in Latin or English. 1 Early History of the Biddemend familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Biddemend research. Another 200 words (14 lines of text) covering the years 1327, 1372, 1381, 1410, 1500, 1659 and 1793 are included under the topic Early Biddemend History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Biddemend Spelling VariationsSound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Biddemend family name include Beadman, Bedman, Bedeman, Bedemon, Beadmann and many more. Early Notables of the Biddemend familyAnother 42 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Biddemend Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Migration of the Biddemend familyFor political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, the Canadas, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Investigation of the origins of family names on the North American continent has revealed that early immigrants bearing the name Biddemend or a variant listed above: Elizabeth Beadman who arrived in Virginia in 1650.
- Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
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