Gomery History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• England

Etymology of Gomery

The name Gomery arrived in England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Gomery family lived in the place called Gomersal in Western Yorkshire, which derived its name from the Old English personal name Gudmoer and the Old English word halh.

The name Gudmoer was composed of the elements gud, which means battle, and moer, which means fame. The word halh means nook or recess. 1 This name was therefore formed under the Old English naming system, which gradually dissolved after the Norman Conquest. At this time, Old English names became less common and were replaced by popular continental European names. The surnames in England that were found shortly after the Norman Conquest were usually of Norman French rather than native English origins.

Early Origins of the Gomery family

Early History of the Gomery family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Gomery research. Another 24 words (2 lines of text) covering the years 1602, 1616, 1628 and 1646 are included under the topic Early Gomery History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Gomery Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Gomersal, Gomersall, Gommersal, Gommersall, Gomershall and many more.

Early Notables of the Gomery family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was Roberts Gomersall (1602-1646?), English dramatist and divine, born in London in 1602. He matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford, 19 April 1616. "Having taken holy orders he ‘became a very florid preacher in the university’ (Wood). In...
Another 44 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Gomery Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Gomery family

Because of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Gomery name or one of its variants: William Gomersall arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1856.