In the 1908 edition of Loomis Family in America, Elisha S. Loomis included a study on the origins of the Loomis surname by Charles A. Hoppin. This is still considered the definitive study on the origins of our surname.

Hoppin concluded that the surname was Anglo-Saxon and originated in the area around Bolton, Lancashire, England. In its earliest form, it was spelled Lumhalgh or Lumhaulgh. The pronunciation in the Anglo-Saxon would have been similar to our modern versions of the name. Hoppin reported that in the ancient Yorkshire/Lancashire border area, a lum was (1) a small wood or grove, (2) a wood bottom growing shrubs and trees, not fit for mowing. In Lancashire, Derby, and Oxford, lum meant a deep pool in the bend of a river. He states that halgh or haulgh meant low-lying, level ground by the side of a river. The name was a geographical description of a specific location with which the family was associated.

Hoppin's final conclusion was: "There is no theory or assumption, consequently, that...(1200 to1270)...our first Lumhalgh ancestor was resident in the aforesaid part of the small town of Bolton; (2) that he took his surname appropriately therefrom and no more was known, or called by the single Christian name of his father prefixed with his own Christian name, as for (Latin) example Radulphus fil Galfridus or Edwin, son of John. Thus it was that the original adopter of the surname owned, leased, tilled, or was considerably identified, doubtless principally distinguished in connection with a certain piece, or pieces of land, which had the somewhat unique position of being fertile, flat ground in a small river valley, between rivers, and which was, perhaps, partly of wood and partly of meadow, suitable for cultivation, and large enough in area for at least a small farm; also near to a deep pool, or pools, or girt about with banks, or slopes, of rising ground, wooded and forming a vale or pit-like enclosure, or enclosures, with the flat bottom-land below and stretching out with the course of the stream; and also with an habitable structure set either on the slope or upon the haulgh beneath. This situation was distinctive enough in its natural characteristics to render the resident thereat distinguished as of the 'lum' 'halgh.' The appearance of the man and of his immediate descendants in the official records of the time as de Lumhalgh and del Lumhalgh...is entirely in accord with the prime principles of both etymology and of ancient custom in connection with the origin of surnames. Thus, this conclusion is reached in a proper manner, and is supported by all authorities."

Chris Phillips, on his site "Some Notes on Medieval English Genealogy", included this information from David Lomas: "Actually, the hamlet of LOMAX is not lost. A map dated 1785 (in the Bury Public Library) entitled ‘A LOMAX in HEAP’. The Parish of Bury shows 25 parcels of land, their names and a list of their areas, with a total area of 75 acres. Those 1875 land boundaries have also been overlaid on a 1847 map to locate some of the lesser place names. The following are labelled on the map and their location shown: (1) Lower Lomax, (2) Higher Lomax, (3) Heady Hill and (4) Charlestown. Lower Lomax has retained it’s [sic] name and is now (1988) a dairy farm, bordering the south side of Roch.

Lower Lomax Farm is about 8 miles due north of Manchester City centre. The farm’s meadows are several hundred feet lower than Heady Hill which rises quite gradually from Lower Lomax and Heap Bridge. The river Roch has cut a channel almost 200 feet deep through that pasture land. The area shown as Lomax Woods on both the 1847 map and modern street atlas is now largely scrub growth in the bottom and on the south side of that gorge.

It is unknown whether there is a deep pool in this part of the river, but with the bottom of the gorge covered in shrubs and trees, a portion of old Lomax existing within a sharp bend of the river, and with the low-lying meadows adjacent to the river, the descriptive term ‘Lumhalghs’ is certainly satisfied."

Lower Lomax Farm is located 8.9 miles east of Bolton, Hoppin’s proposed site of origin for our surname. The theory proposed by Hoppin is supported by the information from Lomas, and both point to this area in Lancashire as the place of origin of our surname.

Overtime, the name has undergone several iterations: Lumhals, Lumhalx, Lomax, Lomas, and Loomis are examples. Lomax and Lomas appear to be the predominant forms in England today, while Loomis is the predominant form in America. For this reason, we invite others with variations of the name to join this project. With sufficient members participating, we can establish the Y-DNA of the greater Loomis family and prove or disprove a family connection between the various iterations of our surname.