Richard Edwards 1804 Upton St Leonard,Forest of Dean is the great grandfather of William Yemn Edwards born 1885 Tredegar, Monmouthshire via their son Thomas b. abt. 1836 Lydney. The family are in the 1841 census in Lydney but move to settle in Tredegar by 1844 where they are colliers.

I am struggling to find how this middle name Yemn/Yemm arose in this Edwards family.It is handed down to the first male in each generation in the family but I have not found it before William Yemn Edwards in 1885.

Family rumour was that the family were once known as Yemm/Yemn but changed their name.
I have failed to find a connection through the usual method of looking at the mother's maiden name etc although I have found similar popular forenames of the Edwards family eg John Stanley, Isaac, Enos/Amos in several Yemm families.

There are several Yemm families in Monmouthshire in later years which I have investigated without any luck and I am now wondering if the link arose further back in the early days in the Forest Of Dean?

Please do not go to any trouble, but if anyone is aware of any name change of a Yemm to an Edwards or any other connection I am missing, please point me in the right direction.

Many thanks in advance - and may I say what a wonderful website this is.

Scriv

Hi Scriv, and welcome to the forum.
No clear answer to your "Yemm" question yet I'm afraid, but just wanted to check you'd seen this prior thread re Richard and his family line.
http://forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?id=20645
http://forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?id=22134

Hi Jefff

Thanks so much for that. I had seen the thread about Richard's marriage to Elizabeth Gilding, but not the other thread. What a wealth of information!

I already have the family in all the censuses, but I did not have Richard's parentage and baptisms. Also, whereas our link is via Thomas 1836, all the other info re the siblings and BMD info from certificates will really help me complete the family picture and maybe throw out another clue as I go through it.

So this family are still clearly Edwards going back to Richard's parentage with no sign of a Yemm connection so far. I did find another thread on here about a John Edwards moving to Forest of Dean from Wales who did have a Yemm connection, but I couldn't tie the line to our Thomas 1836, no matter what I tried!

Maybe the middle name tradition first started around 1886 after all, so I will try again around South Wales.

Thanks so much for all this. I found reading about the area in those early times fascinating and explains the link between those Monmouthshire and East Dean ones mining families.

Again, many many thanks.

Scriv

You're very welcome Scriv, there's stacks of interesting things available within this great forum AND particularly the rest of the website, all worth your thorough and carefull searching; like most search-engines sometimes it can take a while but patience & perseverence is usually rewarded.

Only last week I researched a new subject to me wrt a forum query regarding Victorian "Wards of court". Annoyingly I cannot find the online reference now - search engines eh? ;-) , but if I recall correctly when a child became a Ward of Court often "to" better-off relatives, sometimes that child would adopt their new family's surname as a "middle" name, possibly for legal (inheritance) grounds. Could this, or something like it, be the case with your Yemm Edwards family ?.

I suggest you keep revisiting this thread, the forum's very quiet these last few weeks, but hopefully you'll get more replies in the future.
Meanwhile good luck with your researches, Jeff.

Thanks Jeff, that's worth a thought....

I would think though that it would be a case of looking further back than William Yemn Edwards in Mar Q1886 as his parents had only married in Dec Q 1885 when it would appear he was well on the way.

Unless of course, the biological father was a Yemn and John took him as his own?? Hmm, that's got me thinking!

Thanks again...

Re the biological father being a Yemm - in the past I've seen a fair-few threads on this forum where a family has "suddenly" changed surname between Census's, and it seems that the usual reason is a change of "father"/head of the household as I'm sure you would have considered.

eg old thread http://forum.forest-of-dean.net/index.php?id=20180

As you mention it, the originator of the Yemm trend was born only weeks after his apparent parents married. Again this forum has seen a few cases where marriages of convenience have occurred and a child has been broughtup to believe the head of the household is his biological father, when that isn't the case. A clue to this might be an unexpected change of address, or a private marriage/baptism in the next Parish, an extra "uncle" within the household, etc

Sadly I'm NOT the forum expert at unravelling such things I'm afraid !

You are giving me much food for thought, Jeff! Many thanks... I'll post if I crack the problem.

This is another consideration for the YEMM name…..

My x Grandparents

William John WICKENDEN and Elizabeth JARRETT THOMAS
-christened one of their Sons, Thomas John MILES WICKENDEN at Ruardean 6 October 1878 (unfortunately Thomas died)

This MILES name came into the family as Elizabeth's sister - Mary HADDOCK THOMAS married a Richard William MILES June Qtr 1869 in Penalt.

(Elizabeth JARRETT THOMAS and Mary HADDOCK THOMAS parents were: Thomas HADDOCK THOMAS (again whose parents were: John THOMAS and Elizabeth HADDOCK) and Martha JARRETT married in Monmouth 30 May 1843 - so the importance of the continuation of surnames seems very important)

Fod Records -

Marriage at Penalt Monmouth - 15 June 1869

Richard William MILES age 65, Bachelor, Farmer
residence: Little Brick Hill Bucks
father: John MILES, Farmer

married

May HADDOCK THOMAS, age, 23 - Spinster
father: Thomas HADDOCK THOMAS - boot maker
by Licence

witnesses: Joseph YOUNG and Laura Emmet JARRET

Mary & Richard MILES had two daughters

1881 Census, Dropshort Farm, Brickhall, Buckingham

Richard William MILES, age 66, born Little Brickhall, Bucks
Mary HADDOCK MILES - 35 - born Monmouth
and their two daughters
Elizabeth MILES - age 10 - born Little Brickhall
Agnes Martha MILES - age 6 - born Fenny Stratford, Buckingham

----

Ah, so you mean to keep the Miles family name going?

That's an interesting line of thought that I wouldn't have considered.

Thank you very much.

Why is there always a mystery when I encounter the name Yemm? In 1985 the postmster in my birthplace village in the USA recieved a letter that said" If there is still a Bosley or Boseley in your village please give them the enclosed letter."
The enclosure said " My grandfather Emanuel and your grandfather William were brothers and both grew up in the FOD using the name Yemm. Today they and their descendents all use the surname Bosley or Boseley. Does anyone know why?" A survey of the american Bosleys yielded one elderly aunt that recognized the name Yemm but did not know why.

A lot of research yielded the answer. In 1802 Sarah Yemm had a son whose baptismal record indicates that John Bosley was his father. However John and Sarah never married and The boy grew up as a Yemm. forty years later desendents started to change to the surname Bosley or Boseley and by a century later every descendent that I have found has made the switch. I suspect thst you have a similar case and hope you find confirmation.

dewey

Thanks Dewey.

I am actually wondering whether that is the case with William Yemm's father, John Edwards - ie that he was actually a John Yemm, but brought up by Thomas Edwards and named Edwards.

Or that he was born John Edwards, but realised his father was a Yemm and not Edwards.

You are right - they are certainly a mystery! I thought it was going to be so easy with an unusual name, but how wrong could I be!

I have Yemm in my family. gr gr grandfather, William Yemm, gr grandfather James Yemm and Grandfather. John James Yemm.

Hi Welshgirl - Have you come across any Edwards links from the Forest of Dean or South Wales?

There are 2 marriages that can be found in the Parish Records on this site as follows:

Year 1848
Month Feb
Day 27
Grooms_Surname EDWARDS
Grooms_Forenames Isaac
Grooms_Age Full Age
Groom_Condition Bachelor
Grooms_Occupation Collier
Grooms_Residence Blakeney Hill
Grooms_Fathers_Surname Edwards
Grooms_Fathers_Forenames John
Grooms_Fathers_Occupation Wheelwright
Brides_Surname YEMM
Brides_Forenames Charlotte
Brides_Age Full Age
Brides_Condition Spinster
Brides_Occupation
Brides_Residence Blakeney Hill
Brides_Fathers_Surname Yemm
Brides_Fathers_Forenames James
Brides_Fathers_Occupation Mason
Licence_or_Banns Banns
Date_of_Banns
Signature_or_Mark He signs She marks
Witness_1 John Yemm
Witness_2 Emma Yemm
Other_Witnesses
Officiating_Minister T. G. Smythies
Event Marriage
Memoranda
Notes
Register_Reference P85/1 IN 1/4
Page_Number 19
Parish_Chapel Cinderford St John

Year 1801
Month Sep
Day 2
Grooms_Surname YEMM
Grooms_Forenames William
Grooms_Age
Groom_Condition
Grooms_Occupation
Grooms_Residence Walford
Grooms_Fathers_Surname
Grooms_Fathers_Forenames
Grooms_Fathers_Occupation
Brides_Surname EDWARDS
Brides_Forenames Elizabeth
Brides_Age
Brides_Condition
Brides_Occupation
Brides_Residence Walford
Brides_Fathers_Surname
Brides_Fathers_Forenames
Brides_Fathers_Occupation
Licence_or_Banns Banns
Date_of_Banns
Signature_or_Mark Both mark
Witness_1 Mark of Sarah Gardner
Witness_2 Mark of Tho[ma]s Harris
Other_Witnesses
Officiating_Minister J. H. Beeston Minister
Event Marriage
Memoranda
Notes
Register_Reference AO19/5
Page_Number
Parish_Chapel Walford

and the following on Glos BDM website http://ww3.gloucestershire.gov.uk/bmd/MainMenu.aspx

Groom Surname Groom Forename Bride Surname Bride Forename District Parish Building Year Register Entry
YEMM Stephen EDWARDS Annie Forest of Dean Westbury-on-Severn (FoD) Register Office Closed 1873 5 21

Up to 1911 there are 2 marriages to be found on FreeBMD (Census has been checked for these entries):

Marriages Mar 1893
Edwards Isabella Jane Merthyr T 11a 688
Yemm Thomas Merthyr T. 11a 688

Marriages Dec 1910
Edwards Rachel Merthyr T. 11a 1296
Yemm William Merthyr T. 11a 1296

Mike

Thanks Mike. I will follow all these through to see if they link up. Isaac was a popular name down through the generations. You are all very helpful.Many thanks.

Please don't all waste your valuable time on our wayward Yemms though.

I don't recall hearing the name Edwards in my family. My granddad and Gran went to live in South Wales in about 1919, my Mum was about 4 years old. He had family left in Blakeney and used to visit them regularly once a year and his sister used to visit us. Sorry I can't help you but if you should find a link to us I would be pleased if you will let mw know.

Yes, that seems a bit late for our lot, but I will let you know on here if I do find the link.

Dewey if you receive this please contact me. I have recently obtained more information on Cornelius Baldwin. ( and Lucy II ) I no longer have your email.

Hi Mary,
I see you're a relative newcomer to the forum, so a belated welcome from me.
Please be advised that if a username is displayed in blue, not black, then that means that user is still active on the forum. By clicking on their (blue) username we can see Dewey was on the forum only a few weeks ago. Furthermore, this system also allows you to send a direct and private message into Dewey's email inbox, without the need to read your posting on the forum.
Hope you make contact, J