The Reedman One-Name study commenced over ten years ago and research into the family history has been ongoing for over ten years. This study is being conducted by interested parties (mainly Reedman's) in England, Australia and Canada. My objective has always been to put my ancestors into the context of their everyday lives by taking into the study the historical, social and political environments in which they lived. The name was registered with the Guild of One-Name Studies in 2019.

The registered variants of the name are Redman, Readman, Rudman, Redmayne, Redmaine.

In many indexed sources the name has been recorded in the form of the registered variants (and some others). Predominantly the 'alternative' recording is of 'Rudman', as the study name has been confused due to the appearance of the 'ee' letters in the name, which often appear as a 'u' when viewed in documents being transcribed, or otherwise viewed. There are also many instances of differing spelling variants being seen in the same, or directly related sources, particularly in sources dating from the 16th-18th centuries.

The origin of the study name is a major discussion point amongst researchers. It does not appear to be locative in origin, but perhaps a derivation of 'Riderman', or similar and referring to an association with the care of horses. However, many other theories exist, including those relying on other occupational origins, such as 'Reed Man', (or a Thatcher in Reed) and even 'Reddleman' (the purveyor of red dye for the marking of sheep). 

There is though good evidence to believe that the name itself migrated North to South, with high numbers of instances being found in the varying registered variant forms in Yorkshire, Cumbria and Cleveland in the 14th and 15th centuries with a significant population then appearing in the East Midlands (Lincolnshire, Rutland, Northamptonshire, Leicestershire etc.) in the 16th to 20th centuries and more recently in Bedfordshire, Herfordshire, London and the south western counties.

The database of geographical instances is large and I am open to share this with interested parties.

The vast majority of instances of the study name denote a history that may have had noble origins, but passed rapidly in the 17th century to one associated with agricultural/servant classes. I am though proud of the heritage and cite many fascinating occurrences of 'ordinary' folk who had remarkable stories nonetheless. A few of these are:

• William Reedman 1801-1879:  He and his Spouse Amy Smith (King) b.1813. William was a poor man, born in, baptised, schooled and employed in and around Barnack in Northamptonshire. Two of his sons emigrated to Australia and Canada respectively and are the founders of large Reedman populations in those countries.
• John Noel Reedman 1905-1994: Obtained a degree from Durham University and went on to become Secretary/Legal/Political Adviser to the Palestine Mediation Committee of the United Nations.
• Fanny Reedman 1840 to abt 1916: Always seemingly in trouble with the law, or men and with children born in the Union Workhouse. A grand daughter of a foot soldier who fought at Waterloo, mother and grand mother with questionable morals, but a great story to tell.

A search of the index maintained by the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS) reveals that in 1800 some 1,579 instances of the study name were recorded worldwide. This number reduces to 1,346 referenced in the UK and Ireland. This compares with results of only 6 incidents (UK and worldwide) in 1700. 

An identical search of the LDS database reveals that in 1900 the numbers had fallen to 1,278 (worldwide) and 783 respectively.

However, the above results are based on an exact use of the study name and are not therefore reflective of actual numbers of related instances when other derivations are taken into account. To put this into context a search of the LDS database for 1900 (worldwide) produces a result of some 235,681 individuals if strict surname spelling is turned off. 

There are (as in 'Origin' above) centres of occurrence, predominantly Yorkshire, the East Midlands (Northamptonshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Lincolnshire) and the Southern counties of Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.

My current research records today (2019) 855 individual locations (City, Town, Village, Hamlet) in the UK in which the name is, or has been associated. Between 1664 and 1860 the name appears in 256 individual incidences in the village of Nassington in Nothants alone and some 74 in the town of Stamford in Lincs. 

The 1881 Census records:

19 incidences of the study name (without derivations) in Yorkshire,

75 in Lincolnshire

80 in Northamptonshire

This section will be updated soon.

In the meantime please refer to the data displayed below. These were produced automatically by the Guild's web team and in no sense reflect the range or volume of data held by the study at this point in time.