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America | Wartime | Predominant Members | Coat Of Arms | Links | References/Research | Obituaries & Burial Info | Guest Book | Contacts/Credits  English Family SurnamesAs the evolution of man is a continuum, it is impossible to study the Lomas Family history without any consideration for history in general. Before English spelling was standardized centuries ago, spelling variations of surnames were a common occurrence. Elements of Latin, Norman French and other languages became incorporated into the English language throughout the Middle Ages to the extent that surname spelling changed even among the literate. Coupled with the fact that most of the population was severely illiterate, the spoken word often lead to astonishing variants of surname pronunciation between regions.Locational vernacular languageAs with most countries, English family surnames have always been locational as surnames were usually confined to certain districts or locations even back to Roman times. Certainly there were not many concentrated locations as early Middle Age England was mostly comprised of several scattered villages, hamlets and parishes all across the country. It is established that 7 to 10 thousand of these villages have now disappeared due to the enforced "clearing" and dispersal of the former inhabitants to make way for sheep pastures at the height of the wool trade in the 14th Century, along with the natural causes such as the Black Death of 1348. Regional pronunciations or local area speech inflections also had a dramatic effect on the accurate pronunciation and spelling of surnames. In the many English villages, parishes and regions, surnames were usually spelled and written in the same fashion as they were pronounced. Nonetheless, the use of surnames would never "die out" as the population was steadily growing and it was obviously important to identify everyone. However, the importance of surnames took on a wider meaning when the English government introduced personal tax or the "Poll Tax" as it was known. Consequently, it is difficult to determine the true spelling and origin of many British surnames. (Probable sources of the origin of the "Lomas" surname are discussed under the "Origin" page above.) As a result of the growth and expansion of the British Empire, there are many branches of the old Lomas Family tree that are scattered around the world. Thankfully, with the assistance of the Internet, today many Lomas Family members have significantly expanded their genealogical research. There are genealogical posts and forums of some who claim great success tracing their "Lomasline" back to the early 1530's or even further. However, there remains a few of the Lomas Family branches that can only be traced to the mid 1600's. For this reason it is believed these branches in particular have their origin from the Mediterranean - from Spain (or perhaps Italy as "Lommasso"). Spanish origin is entirely believable as, prior to the Spanish Armada invasion of 1588-89, Spain enjoyed many close ties with Britain in the areas of trade, commerce and people. (In Spanish, the word "lomas" means "hills".) Looms, Loomas, Loomis, Loomys, Lamas, Lammas, Lames, Lamos, Lamus, Lamys, Lewmas, It appears that "Lomas" and "Lomax" are the oldest derivatives of the same surname. Some researchers conclude the Lomas name predates the Lomax name. Other researchers will argue that point. Regardless of which came first, the two surnames are synonymous. Over generations of family history it is known that some members of the Lomax Family have changed the spelling of their name to Lomas and visa-versa, perhaps. At some point in time, the Lomas(x) name MAY HAVE EVOLVED to the Loomis name. Nevertheless, "Lomas" has the distinction of being one of the oldest names in Great Britain. The Loomis Family - www.loomis-family.orgDr. Elias Loomis believed the name has been uniformly spelled as Lomas since sometime in the 1700's; but two centuries prior the name was sometimes spelled Lummis, Lummas, Lommas, or Lomes. He believed all these names were variations of the spelling of one original name, and the spelling now well established in England was Lomas, while the spelling adopted in the United States was Loomis.Can we conclusively prove the Lomas Family is related to the Loomis Family?Yes, we can. The general consensus has always been that the two families are related. Lance Loomis, from the Loomis Families of America, insists the connection can be verified through human DNA testing. Lance recently worked with a member of the Lomas Family residing in England- where his line has always lived. When the DNA test results came back, the markers were also very close but not nearly as close as the Loomis' markers were to each other. There were three or four markers that were one off. So, THAT particular Lomas individual was more distantly related, but still definitely at some point in time descended from the same ancestor as the Loomis patriarch, Joseph Loomis.  With the largest DNA database, 90% of genealogists choose Family Tree DNA. As of July 29th 2011, Family Tree DNA has a total of 341,786 records.- www.familytreedna.com Hard evidence exists to substantiate the Loomis connection. Consider the genealogy of John Sherwin (b. 1644 in England d. Oct 15, 1726 in Massachusetts). Family records indicate that John married a Francis Loomis (Lomas) Nov 25, 1667 at Ipswich, Essex Co. MA. Later on, John Sherwin married Mary Chandler on Sept 30th 1691 also at Ipswich. We can now undoubtedly state some of the early Loomises in America also went by the name of (or were also known as) "Lomas". www.familytreemaker.genealogy.com Today, the Canadian Lomas Family is scattered all throughout the country but is primarily located in the Greater Toronto Area. On the other hand, the American Lomas Family is located throughout the eastern seaboard from Maine to Florida; but primarily located in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Louisiana, Colorado, Texas, New Mexico and California. 40% of the Lomas Family is White, 50% is Hispanic and 7% is Black. Our specific website objectives are: Popular outbound genealogical links: Research"In every conceivable manner, the family is our link to our past and the bridge to our future." ...Alex Haley, author of the book "Roots". "We study history not to be clever in another time but to be wise always."...Cicero  Website design and development: NOVA Ventures & Management, Regina Dedicated to my Father, the late John Joseph Lomas |
