Emm

Emm One-Name Study

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Study details

Study: Emm

Variants: Emme

Category: 1 - A study where research using core genealogical datasets and transcriptions is in its early stages.

Contact: Miss Adele Emm

About the study

I mainly hold family history data from circa 1513 for the Emm/Emme surname and other Emm/Emms/Emme information. Most of the information is UK based.

The world's first EMMPOSIUM took place on the 27th and 28th May 2006 in Wiltshire, UK for anyone with the surname Emm, Emme or Emms - by marriage or maiden name. It was a tremendous success. The next one is being held in Bratton and Broad Chalke, Wiltshire on the 3rd and 4th May 2014. Please contact me for details. Anyone with Emm or Emms in their family history is welcome to attend.

Variant names

Emme

Emme is one of the oldest surnames in the study and only appears in the earliest holders of the surname.

Emms is not part of my study. This surname is considerably more common than Emm and is from Norfolk and East Anglia ie to the east of England. There are incidences where two Emm have married and colloquially called themselves Emms or, because 'Emm' is hard to understand (I'm frequently faced with blank looks) perhaps it made the name more understandable when most working class were illiterate. If you have an Emms ancestor and they hailed from Wiltshire or the west of England, they may have originally been an Emm. Please contact me anyway.

Name origin

There are several suggestions as to where EMM originates from; a corruption of Emmerson - the son of Emma (which I think is unlikely) being one example to a corruption of the French word Ami (friend) and the surname Ames and Eams as another. It would appear Emm has been regarded as an 'odd' name for centuries as there are many instances where two Emm(s) have married and renamed themselves Emms or just called themselves Emms because people understand this surname more easily than that of Emm. Many of the 'Emms' who colloquially called themselves thus, reverted back to 'Emm' on official documents.

Sir Henry Em (Eam) was an original member of the Order of the Garter founded by Edward III in 1348. He was one of the stranger knights and historians believed he was from Flanders or the low countries. There is an Emm myth he was the Black Prince's bodyguard. However, as he died aged c26 and as no academic has discovered any recorded descendants, it would be cheeky to claim him as our nomenclature's origin.

Historical occurrences of the name

In 1860, cordwainer Walter Thomas Emm, was tried in the celebrated (and infamous) Stepney Murder Case. He was acquitted but the other suspect, James Mullins, was hanged. There was a huge amount of press interest and illustrations published including their representation of our Walter. Sir Conan Doyle investigated the murder in 1901. In 2017 Sinclair Mckay published 'The Mile End Murder, the Case Conan Doyle Couldn't Solve' where our hero, Walter Thomas Emm, is featured quite prominently. So far no common ancestor has been discovered between this London branch of the Emm family and the Wiltshire one although the DNA connects us.

There was a brief flurry of excitement when I read a contemporary 1878 newspaper report that Walter Thomas' father, John Emm, had been bosun on HMS Victory when Nelson was killed at the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar. This was a remark to the journalist at the tragic death of John's wife Susanna (aged c88) in a house fire when, because it was 1878 and confirming facts took a little more time than today, promptly published it. For anyone interested, William Wilmet, HMS Victory's bosun at the Battle of Trafalgar, was busily engaged in firing at French ship Bucentaure when Nelson was dying. See my blog.

Diana Dors' second husband, the late Richard Dickie Dawson was, originally, Colin Emm.

For further information on these, please contact me.

I'd be even more excited for your Emm-tales I haven't discovered or think are exciting enough to come here...

Name frequency

Distribution of the name

The Emm/Emme surname appears to have started around the Wiltshire, (UK) area, although, since emigration and the largescale movement of people, it is now found all around the world. The first Emm on any of my trees is found in Sutton Veny on the edge of Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire and the family then skirted northwards toward Bratton or southwards into the Broad Chalk area and nearby villages. Emm arrived in Broad Chalk from circa 1720.

The British Emm contingent in North America are relatively recent ie largely early 20th century. There is another Emm contingent who appear to vie from Germany.

Data

DESCRIPTION OF DATA COLLECTED

England and Wales Births, Marriages and Deaths listings from 1837
Baptism, Marriage and Burial Indexes for UK
Telephone listings for the UK and abroad
Details of Wills from 1858
Wills Indexes for UK prior to 1858
a database of all Emm(s) from c1500
Several individual 'orphan' Emm family trees largely from Wiltshire and neighbouring counties
Miscellaneous Emm references
Details of World War I and II casualties, memorial inscriptions and campaign medals
some BMD certificates

DNA

We have started a DNA exploration of the descendants of Walter Emm (see above) and the main tranche of the Emm family. We have found a connection but this is before approximately 1750. We still haven't discovered a plausible common ancestor. My DNA is on Ancestry but from all the close contacts who have replied to my contacting them, none have so far descended from Emm but from my other family lines. If you have put your DNA on Ancestry or via any other sites, I would be delighted if you got in touch.

Links

www.adeleemm.com

Contact Details

Miss Adele Emm

General Search Results

Occurrences of the surname Emm in the Guild Indexes

(Click on the number to view the search results in each index. Indexes marked by * are only accessible by logged in Guild members.)

Global Marriages (public) 48
Global Marriages (members)* 56
Study materials for the study Emm* 2
References to the name Emm in the Guild Journal 6
Stories for the name Emm 1

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