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BEMIS = BELMEIS=BEAUMIS=BELLESME
‘Beamis, formerly Beaumis, Beaumeys, or Beaumetz, from Beaumetz near Abbeville. Roger de Beaumez witnessed a charter of Henry 1., 1124 (Gall. Christ.. xi. 158). Richard de Belmiz, Viscount of Salop, witnessed, 1087, the charter of Salop Abbey (Mon. i. 376). Hugh Castellan of Beaumitz, m. Beatrice, dau. of Arnold de Gand, Count of Guisnes, and was living, 1172. Richard de Belmiz was Bishop of London, 1107; Hugh de B. Lord of Dunnington, Salop, 1316, &c.’ [E.A. Freeman, THE NORMAN PEOPLE, 1874, p.154]
‘BELMEIS, BEAUMEIS, ETC. Beaumais-sur-Dive: Calvados, arr. Fallaise, cant. Morteaux.
In the twelfth century this family furnished two bishops of London and a number of dignitaries and canons of St. Paul’s cathedral. There are elaborate accounts of the family by Stubbs [10] and Eyton [11]. Richard de Belmeis, the founder of the family, was a follower of Roger de Montgomery and, according to Orderic [12], sheriff of Shropshire. In 1108 he became bishop of London, having founded an important Shropshire family descended from his brother Walter. Beaumais-sur-Dive appears to have been a fief of Grandmesnil [13], from which it was only 12 kil. Distant, but it was in the Heismois of which Roger was hereditary vicomte, 20 kil. W. of Vimoutiers, an early and important Montgomery possession, and 12 kil. E of Noron held of Montgomery by William Pantulf, also an under-tenant in Shropshire. The only other Beaumais is in Seine-Inférieure (arr. Dieppe, cant. Offranville, comm. Aubermesnil) and far removed from the Montgomery sphere of influence. There seems to be no doubt about the identification, which is accepted by Stubbs.
10. Ralph de Diceto (Rolls Ser.), Introduction, p.xxi et seq.
11. Shropshire, ii, 193 et seq.
12. Ed. Le Prévost, iv, 275
13. Cal. Docs. France, no.607; a charter of Robert earl of Leicester, son of the countess Parnel, the heiress of the Norman honour of Grandmesnil.’
[Lewis C. Loyd, THE ORIGINS OF SOME ANGLO-NORMAN FAMILIES, 1951, pp.13-14]
‘ Beaumais is in the Heismois, in Calvados, and the Belmeis came to England under the aegis of the Vicomte of the Heismois, Roger of Mongomery, Earl of Shrewsbury [1]. Somehow the Belmeis survived the fall of the house of Montgomery-Bellême in 1102 and prospered in the ruin of their masters, for presently we find Richard as Sheriff of Shropshire, and he and his brother Walter building up properties there.
1. Le Neve, p.1 (and for the family, passim); W. Stubbs, introd, to Diceto, vol. I, pp. xxi-xxix; GF, pp. 43-7, 204-6, 271 ff.; HSP, pp.22 ff.’
[Christopher Nugent Lawrence Brooke, Gillian Keir, LONDON, 800-1216: The Shaping of a City, 1975, p.346]
BEMIS = BEAMISH= BEAMAN
A Bemis project participant is surnamed Beaman and it seems Beaman is a recognised variant of Beaumont. Beamish is a variant of Bemis. The following message in Notes & Queries citing an 1864 source states:
‘BEALAIS=BEAMISH=BEAUMONT. – In the County Families of the United Kingdom, 1864, by Edward Walford, M.A., is the following, on p.65:-
“Beamish, Richard Esq., of Beaumont House, co. Cork, represents a younger branch of the Beamishes of Palace Anne. The original name of this family was Beaumont, corrupted into Beamish, which is Beaumont translated into Irish, viz. Belais.”
Seeing that Beamish occupies an intermediate state, could any correspondent of “N. & Q.” show not only which is the more ancient surname, Beal or Beaumont, but a more intimate relationship between the two names than is indicated in the above question?
J. BEALE’
[NOTES AND QUERIES, Volume s4-I, Issue 19, p.434 (May 9, ’68)]
BEAMAND
Beamand, armorially identified with BEAUMONT. [E.A. Freeman, THE NORMAN PEOPLE, 1874, p.154]
BEMIS: http://www.houseofnames.com/Bemis-family-crest
BEAMAN: http://www.houseofnames.com/Beaman-family-crest
The DNA match between Beaman and Bemis appears to corroborate that Beamish (aka Bemis) and Beaumont (aka Beaman) shared a common ancestry. The nearest Bemis match to Beaman is 37-4. The range of genetic distances in Beaman’s matches with Bemis (37-4 to 37-7) suggests that the lines have probably branched apart in England.
While a surname itself may give us incomplete or misleading or, at best, only general information about the origin of a family, DNA-testing can give us concrete evidence for identifying and separating family lines. Y-chromosome DNA testing is especially helpful because the male Y-chromosome is handed down, father to son, unchanged through the generations, except for rare mutations which, in themselves, can be helpful indicators of branching. The accessibility and affordability of family DNA testing is doubtless the greatest technical advance in the history of genealogical research because -- at long, long last -- we have a tool to break down those brick walls!
Lines of descent submitted by members of our project are as follows:
BEMIS: A
Kit# 262801- Joseph Bemis 1619 - 1684 + Sarah - 1712
2- John Bemis 1659 - 1732 + Mary Harrington 1663/64 – 1716
3- John Bemis 1686 - 1754 + Hannah Warren 1690/91 – 1713
4- John Bemis 1711/12 - aft. 1757 + Hannah Warren b. 8 Oct 1710
5- Timothy Bemis 1734/35-1806 + Martha Wesson 1736-1808
6- James Bemis 1756-1832 + Lois Walker 1758 – 1841
7- Thomas Bemis 1793-1878 + Anna Knight 1798-1872
8- George Washington Bemis 1825-1874 + Mary Anna Smith 1827-1881
9- George Franklin Bemis 1852-1936 + Emma Josephine Smith 1853-1940
10- James Elwyn Bemis 1886-1920 + Elizabeth Elliot Poor 1885-1937
11- Curtis Elliot Bemis 1912-1985 + Rosalind Goodwin Dickson 1914-2002
12- Curtis Elliot Bemis, Jr. 1940-2007
Kit# 29143
1- Joseph Bemis 1619 - 1684 + Sarah - 1712
2- John Bemis 1659 - 1732 + Mary Harrington 1663/64 – 1716
3- John Bemis 1686 - 1754 + Hannah Warren 1690/91 – 1713
4- John Bemis 1711/12 - aft. 1757 + Hannah Warren b. 8 Oct 1710
5- John Bemis 1732-1820 + Abigail Sanderson 1731/32-1821
6- Silas Bemis 1761-1850 + Olive Spencer 1762-1793
7- Asahel Bemis 1797-1880 + Betsy Wood 1799-1841
8- Silas J. Bemis 1827-1892 + Laura K. Richardson 1824-1882
9- Horace Erskine Bemus 1849-1921 + Lucy Ann Fisher 1853-1908
10- Denton Erskine Bemus 1880-1953 + Bertha M. Albers 1879-1958
11- Richard Denton Bemus 1911-1982 + Helen E. Alexander 1911-1995
Kit# 37797
1- Joseph Bemis 1619 - 1684 + Sarah - 1712
2- John Bemis 1659 - 1732 + Mary Harrington 1663/64 – 1716
3- John Bemis 1686 - 1754 + Hannah Warren 1690/91 – 1713
4- John Bemis 1711/12 - aft. 1757 + Hannah Warren b. 8 Oct 1710
5- John Bemis 1732-1820 + Abigail Sanderson 1731/32-1821
6- Silas Bemis 1761-1850 + Olive Spencer 1762-1793
7- Asahel Bemis 1797-1880 + Betsy Wood 1799-1841
8- Erastus Bemus April 09 1824 -
9- Charles Henry Bemus + Miria Elizabeth Cruse
10- Lyman Watson Bemis b. April 19 1880
11- Kenneth Eldon Bemis b. Jan 01 1914
Kit# 56846
1- Joseph Bemis 1619 - 1684 + Sarah - 1712
2- John Bemis 1659 - 1732 + Mary Harrington 1663/64 – 1716
3- John Bemis 1686 - 1754 + Hannah Warren 1690/91 – 1713
4- John Bemis 1711/12 - aft. 1757 + Hannah Warren b. 8 Oct 1710
5- John Bemis 1732-1820 + Abigail Sanderson 1731/32-1821
6- Silas Bemis 1761-1850 + Olive Spencer 1762-1793
7- Asahel Bemis 1797-1880 + Betsy Wood 1799-1841
8- Martin C Bemis + Jane E Hawthorn
9- Edwin Bemis + Anna Tucker
10- Grandville C Bemis
11- Grandville C Bemis, Jr.
Kit# 63346
1- Joseph Bemis 1619 - 1684 + Sarah - 1712
2- John Bemis 1659 - 1732 + Mary Harrington 1663/64 – 1716
3- John Bemis 1686 - 1754 + Hannah Warren 1690/91 – 1713
4- John Bemis 1711/12 - aft. 1757 + Hannah Warren b. 8 Oct 1710
5- John Bemis 1732-1820 + Abigail Sanderson 1731/32-1821
6- Silas Bemis 1761-1850 + Olive Spencer 1762-1793
7- Asahel Bemis 1797-1880 + Betsy Wood 1799-1841
8- Martin C Bemis + Jane E Hawthorn
9- William David Bemis
10- Chester Edward Jonathan Bemis
11- Chester Edward Bemis
BEMIS: RecLOH YCAIIa,b=21,21
Kit# 98686
1- Joseph Bemis 1619 - 1684 + Sarah - 17122- Joseph Bemis, Jr. b. 1651
3- Phillip Bemis b. 1700
4- Zaccheus Bemis b. 25 Jul 1736 + Elizabeth Lyon
5- William Bemis b. 11 Jan 1777 - 08 Oct 1835