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SPILMAN FAMILY ABROAD |
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A Coat of Arms belonged to an individual, not a family. Here are two diagrams of Spilman Coats of Arms that claim to be from Spilmans of Essex, England. We cannot directly trace our family to the owner, but we know he/they were Spilmans in our area of England.
THE SURNAME SPILMAN: The English surname Spilman and its variants Spillman, Spelman, and Spellman can be traced back to the Old English word "spell" or "Spellian" meaning "to speak" or "Discourse". The original bearer of the surname would thus have been a preacher by occupation, or perhaps a professional storyteller or a well-loved village character who entertained his neighbours, young and old, with legends and fairy tales. The surname is documented in England as early as the thirteenth century when one John Speleman is recorded in the Hundred Rolls of Nottingham in the year 1273. Once Gerard le Speller is noted in the "Rotuli Parliamentorum" of Essex in 1301 while in the Subsity Rolls of the same country in 1327 appears the name of one John Speleman. However the surname Spilman may derive from and is often confused with the medieval occupational name Spileman. In the Curia Regis Rolls of 1221 we note one William Speleman who also appears as William Spileman in subsequent references. This name is derived from the Old English "spilemann" meaning a "juggler", "conjuror" or "jester"; the bearer of the surname may thus have been one who performed feats of dexterity and slight of hand for his living. Spileman was occasionally used as a personal name, and thus signify "son of Spileman". In the records of the Abbey of Bury St. Edmonds in 1095 we note a reference to one Goduine filius Spilemanni, a Latin entry concerning Godwin son of Spilman.
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