"Dispersion of Hindmarsh Families 1250 - 1609 Note: This does not reflect concentration - which was primarily in Northumberland and Durham"

1. Walter Hindmers 1250 Newcastle, John Hindmers 1389 Newcastle, Thomas Hindmarsh 1530 Wallsend, Rawff Hyndmers 1538 Yherdyll, Thomas Hindmarsh marriage 1584 Hexham et al - Northumberland 2. Thomas Hames 1332 Papcastle, Cumberland 3. Alan Hyndmars 1348 Berwick, Northumberland 4. William Hyndemerche 1442 Hedley, Northumberland 5. James Hindmarsh 1470 Aislaby, Agnet Hynmers marriage 1589 Sedgefield, Ralph Hindmasse 1596 Grindon et al - Durham 6. Thomas Hindmersh 1525 Sandwich, Kent 7. Edwardi Hynemarche 1525 Halifax, Yorkshire 8. John Hyndmers 1536, Alston Cumberland 9. Thomas Hyndmore 1540 Brough, Westmorland 10. Agneta Hindmarsh 1546 Worlaby by Brigg, Lincoln 11. Thomas Hymes marriage 1547 Caston, Norfolk 12. Johannes Hymas 1555 Ashdon Essex 13. John Henmarsh 1570 London 14. Roberti Hyndmer 1570 Hackness Yorkshire 15. Theophilus Hindemarshe 1572 Newborough, Notts 16. Alicia Hyndmersh 1573 Howden, Yorkshire 17. Thomas Hymes 1577 Bosham, W Sussex 18. Anfwce Himers marriage 1592 Marhull, Dorset 19. Jane Henmarsh 1595 Hertford 20. Richard Hemners marriage 1604 Plymouth, Devon 21. Richard Hyndmarshe 1609 Dalton-in-Furness, Lancs 22. Anna Highmas 1620 Stratford On Avon, Warwick 23. Allice Hymes 1646 F James Uffculme, Devon 24. Thomas Hynmers 1687 F. James Roxburgh, Scotland

Before the Norman Conquest family names were almost unknown in England.   After 1066AD the feudal system introduced by William the Conqueror split the population into two groups, the 'known', most of whom had family names, and the serfs.  The wide distinction between the upper and lower classes produced two qualitative terms 'gentle' and 'simple'.  In return for the land they held the 'known' or nobles who were predominantly of Norman origin accepted a liability of military service for themselves and a number of their followers.   Thus all who held land of the king were 'gentle' men and used arms.   A landowner finding the necessity of arms in battle, was originally at liberty to use what armorial bearings he liked but the Crown and Sovereign later took over supreme control and jurisdiction relating to them.

Prior to the general use of surnames, some addition was usually made to the Christian, or given name, derived from a personal quality, from an occupation or from a residence, to distinguish one person from another.    An important man in a hamlet or village, when signing a document would add the name of the place; thus some John of the village "Hind-Marsh"may have given rise to the origin of the family name.   However, it was not until the reign of Edward II (1307-1327) that the common people generally assumed family names and by then it was considered 'a disgrace for a gentleman to have one single name, as the meaner sort had'.

If the name Hindmarsh derived from a place name we must consider how or why that place was so called. On present evidence the origin of the name may have derived from the following:

1. It is of Norman origin and was a place name in Normandy.  In the 13th century it was genteelified into its Old English form.

2. Alternatively, it was an English place name shortly before 1307 when, as we have seen, the Anglo Saxon 'serfs' assumed family names.

The evidence for and against these two propositions is considered below.

Evidence of Norman Origin

According to Barber, "Hiesmes" is a local name in Normandy and this is the origin of the name of "Hymas" and "Aymes"

In "The Antiquities of Heraldry" by William Smith Ellis - London 1869 -under Armorial Seals of the 12th and 13th Century - p.190 - the author states that the following are all roundels some containing a shield:

Roger de Hyemes: A Lion Rampant

Mathew de Hymes: An Eagle.

We also have the following records:

1285-93 - Walter Hindmers of Mitford q.v.

1345-81 - John de Hyndmersh of Durham q.v.

1484-1507 Alan de Hindmerse of Berwick on Tweed, also Alan de Hyndmerse of the same location.

George Tate in his "History of Alnwick" (1866) states that "Hindmarsh is one of the few old families still having representatives in Alnwick.   In other areas we see the name first appearing as Hyndmers in 1483, and Himers in 1633. According to Brockie - "it was originally Hymner and Hymners, and was subsequently genteelified into Hindmarsh".   However, our research tends to indicate that it was originally Hindmers and Hyndmers and was later genteelified as "Hindmarsh" and "Hymers"

Evidence of English Origin

Several authors have attempted to trace the origin of the Hindmarsh name but unfortunately not with a great deal of success.   HB Guppy in the "Homes of Family Names in Great Britain" (1890) has successfully located the County in which the name first appears viz. Northumberland.   However, if the name is of Norman origin, Guppy has merely shown that Northumberland was probably the English County, where the Norman originator of the name settled.

Harrison in his "Dictionary of Surnames of the UK" states: "Hindmarsh" - English. Dweller at the "Hind" (deer)"Marsh": Old English hind, a hind plus merse.

All that Ernest Weekley has to say in "Surnames" is: "Hindmarsh and Hindhaugh, in these names the prefix may have adverbial or prepositional force".

C W Bardsley does a little better in "Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames".   'Hindmarsh and Hindmarch local of Hindmarch" a location in North England.   "I cannot find the spot".

"Anglo Saxon Sources and other Options"

Hind and Marsh are certainly old English words as the following bears out:
Anglo Saxon - Hind and Merisc or Mersc from Teutonic "Mari" (compare Masrish).

Swedish - Hind and Moras.

Dutch - Hind and Moeras

Danish - Hind and Marsk

If the family name is of old English origin and is a place name, then one might expect its location to be situated somewhere in the old Kingdom of Northumbria - Northumberland, County Durham and Yorkshire.   The vast areas of marshland at the mouth of the River Humber in Yorkshire could well be a likely spot.   These vast marsh lands formed a natural barrier for Northumbria against any assailant from mid-Britain for centuries.   Even the Roman engineers failed to carry a causeway directly from the south across the marshes of the Trent.   In 1609, Prince Henry slew five hundred deer in a single day's hunting here; moreover, before the draining of these fens in the civil war, deer were said to be as plentiful in Hatfield Chase as "Sheep upon a hill".

The only similar sounding place names in England are:

1. Hinmere - a ninth century place name in the parish of Pendock in Worcestershire - "History of Worcestershire" p.478 Vol 3.

2. Henmarsh - a village in Gloucestershire. "The Concuse Oxford Dictionary of English Place Names 1960"

3. Handmere - A parish that existed in Flintshire before 1110 AD when first records of its fine Gothic church are noted.   The parish derives its name from a large lake (mere)shaped like a hand.  The villagers were known as the Handmers and a number of them worked in the surface mining of lead in the nearby area. "A Topographical Dictionary of Wales, S. Lewis, 1834".

If the Hindmarsh name is not derived from the aforementioned villages, what then happened to the original village or hamlet "Hindmarsh"? Bearing in mind that "John" would have been titled "John" of "Hindmarsh" in circa 1345-81 (see earlier).   For a possible explanation we must refer to "The Lost Villages of England" by Maurice Beresford - Lutterworth Press 1954.   According to Beresford, a village could become 'lost' for any one of the following reasons:

1. After the Norman Conquest, the subsequent suppression of the rebels caused the destruction of many villages.

2. Inundation by the sea. The East Coast of Yorkshire below Bridlington has lost a dozen substantial villages, some in the early 13th century.

3. The Scots burned several Northumberland villages in the 1320's.

4. The Black Death, the most severe visitations were in the 14th and 15th centuries, when a number of villages were abandoned.

5. Many villages were destroyed by landowners in the Middle Ages.   The wealthy landowners found that it was cheaper and more profitable to convert their land into pasture for cattle rather than employ serfs to grow crops.   The chief destruction of villages was before the beginning of the reign of Henry VII (1485). The Anti-Enclosure legislation which had retrospective powers covering the period 1485-88 failed because in many instances it was introduced too late to reverse the process.   Moreover, the owners of manorial records from lost villages therefore had a vested interest in destroying them.   Northumberland and Durham experienced depopulatioon at end of the 16th Century, a hundred years after the the worst cases in the Midlands.   When Parliamentary enclosure began in the 1720's there was hardly an open field left to be enclosed in Northumberland, Durham or the North Riding. Despite the foregoing comments, it remains strange that if 'Hindmarsh' was the name of a lost village it did not later re-appear as a place name.   The majority of the villages destroyed by the Normans and Scots were re-built.   Furthemore, in many cases the names of villages destroyed by enclosure can still be traced from Church Records, by field names and the existence of named Manor Houses that survive without villages - aerial photography can be used to locate some of these!

Some Possible Early References to "Hindmarsh"

Hincmar, the archbishop of Rheims, born 805 AD died 882 AD, helped to entertain Ethawulf and the boy Alfred during their visit to the Frankish court in 865, and played a great part as the right hand man of Charles the Bald and afterwards as the controller of the weaker kings who followed him.  He was buried at Epernay on the 21st December in the year 882 AD. (History of the anglo Saxons - Hodkin & Encyclo Brit).   See "Famous Hindmarshes". 

Hademar, Haimerus, Hadimarus, Haemar, Haemarus, Hathumer, Haumer etc are pre-Conquest names in the Domesday Book - (see Olof von Feilitzen's book).

Hicmarus espiscopus-cardinalis, also spelt Hinemar.   There is an account of this cardinal in Ciaconius ed 1677 1. col 1002 and Cardella, Memorie storiche de Cardinali - Romae 1792 1.pars.ii 32-3.   He was "di nazione Francese, amico, di S.Bernado and died at Clugny inthe 1164.   Hinemar, as Pagi says, came to England not 1146 but in 1144.   He was sent by Lucius 11, who recalled him and sent him to France. P.148 The Priory of Hexham, Northumberland. Vcl.44 Surtees Society).

The following are a few of the old forms of the spelling:

13th Century: Hindmers

14th Century: Hynmerssh

15th Century Hynerssh, Hindmers, Hyndemerche, Hyndemarshe, Hyndemers, de Hindmerse, de Hyndmerrse.

16th Century Hyndmers, Hynemers, Hymers, Hyndmarshe, Hynmers, Hyndmer, Hindmarsh, Hyndmarsh, Hindmars, Hindms, Hinmus, Hynmas, Himers, Himners.

17th Century: Hindmarsh, Hindmarch, Hyndmers, Himers, Hymers, Himmers, Hymars, Himors, Hindmers, Himers.

18th Century: Hindmarsh, Hindmarch,Heymarsh, Heimarsh, Heymers, Hindmersh, Hymers, Hindmass, Himanes, Himas Himers.

19th Century: Hindmarsh, Hindmarch, Hymers, Hindmire, Hindmers

20th Century: Hindmarsh, Hindmarch, Hymer, Hymes, Hymers, Hymass.

See evidence from Early Records for more.