This rare and interesting name is of Medieval English origin and is a dialectal variant of the locational name Bulmer, from places so called in Essex and Yorkshire. The earliest recording of the place in Essex is in the Domesday Book of 1086, and appears as 'Bulenemera', and in the Ancient Charters of 1178 as 'Bulemere'. Bulmer in Yorkshire appears in the Domesday Book as 'Bolemere' and in the Pipe Rolls of 1130 and 1156 as 'Bulemer'. The derivation of both these places is identical and is from the Old English pre 7th Century 'bulena', bull and 'mere', a lake, thus 'bull's lake'. The following examples illustrate the name development after 1542, Elizabeth Bullimer (1665, Essex), Sarah Bullimore, christened on January 22nd 1670 at St. Botolph's with Aldgate, and John Bullimore married Susannah Manslip on July 15th 1827 at Gorleston with Southtown, Suffolk. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Margaret Bulmer, which was dated 1542, Leavening, Yorkshire, during the reign of King Henry V111, 'Good King Hal', 1509-1547. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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