Richard Edwards 1804 Upton St Leonard - Yemm link? (General)

by Scriv, Monday, April 28, 2014, 20:55 (3863 days ago)

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