This interesting and unusual name has two possible origins, the first of which is from a personal name introduced into England by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066, as "Roman", from the Latin personal name "Romanus". The name "Roman" was popular in Northern France in the Middle Ages and was borne by several early saints. In England the pronunciation of "Rome" was "Room", Shakespeare rhymes "Rome" with "doom" and "groom", and thus the spelling in the modern surnames. "Roman" or "Room" can also be an ethnic name for someone from Rome or from Italy in general, or perhaps a nickname for a pilgrim who had travelled to Rome and back. "Room(e)s" is the patronymic form, Ann Roomes was married to John Sherrington on the 19th May 1803 at St. Mary's, Marylebone, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Rome, which was dated 1296, in the "Sussex Subsidy Rolls", during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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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