This interesting surname is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic MacGille Mhoire (Scotland) or Mac Giolla Mhuire (Ireland), a patronymic from the personal names meaning "servant of (the Virgin) Mary". It can also be a locational name from Gillamoor in Northern Yorkshire, so called from the old English pre 7th Century personal names Getlingas or Gyolingas meaning "people of Getta" or "People of Gyola plus "mor" "marsh" or "moor". This surname dates back to the early 13th Century (see below). Further recordings include one Gillechad Gillamor (1304) (witnessed a grant by Huctred). Variations in the idiom of the spelling include Gillmor(e), Gilmer, Kolmore, Golour, etc.. Margaret, daughter of Willim and Elner Gilmer was christened at St. Dunstan, Stepney on August 15th 1586, and William, son of Elizabeth Gilmore, was christened on January 14th 1678 at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster. One Catherine Gilmore, aged 25 yrs, sailed from Liverpool aboard the "Montezuma" bound for New York on May 15th 1846. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Gilemor, witness, which was dated 1228, in the "Feet of Fines of Huntingdonshire", during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. 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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