Blem History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland
Ireland

Early Origins of the Blem family

The surname Blem was first found in Derbyshire where the name is a metonymic occupational name for an iron worker from the Middle English "blome" meaning an ingot of iron. 1 By extension, the name was derived from "the bloomer," a worker at a bloomery, or bloom-smithy. 2

Another reference is more specific: " a 'bloom' is a mass of iron that has gone a second time through the fire - Anglo Saxon bloma; and bloomary, hence probably a Bloomer was a person employed in the manufacture of iron." 3

One of the first records of the name was found in Derbyshire in 1202 when William Blomere was listed in Pipe Rolls at that time. The Assize Rolls of Staffordshire list Robert le Blomere there in 1279. 4

The Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 list Johannes Blomer, smyth and Johannes Blomere. Later Henry Blewmer and William Blumer were both listed in Yorkshire in 1513 and 1515. 2

Early History of the Blem family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Blem research. Another 185 words (13 lines of text) covering the years 1041, 1455, 1487, 1510, 1543, 1600, 1603, 1635, 1705 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Blem History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Blem Spelling Variations

Only recently has spelling become standardized in the English language. As the English language evolved in the Middle Ages, the spelling of names changed also. The name Blem has undergone many spelling variations, including Blomer, Bloomer, Bloomar, Bloomere, Blomere, Blome and many more.

Early Notables of the Blem family

Distinguished members of the family include

Wood says he practised for divers years progging tricks, in employing necessitous persons to write in several arts and to get contributions of noblemen to promote the work...

Migration of the Blem family to Ireland

Some of the Blem family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 59 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Blem family

To escape the unstable social climate in England of this time, many families boarded ships for the New World with the hope of finding land, opportunity, and greater religious and political freedom. Although the voyages were expensive, crowded, and difficult, those families that arrived often found greater opportunities and freedoms than they could have experienced at home. Many of those families went on to make significant contributions to the rapidly developing colonies in which they settled. Early North American records indicate many people bearing the name Blem were among those contributors: Mercy Bloomer, who arrived in New York in 1703; Anne Bloomer, who landed in Virginia in 1717; Joshua Bloomer, who landed in New York in 1769; Francis Bloomer, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1776.

Citations +

Hanks, Patricia and Flavia Hodges, A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988. Print. (ISBN 0-19-211592-8)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)