ur first task is to examine the origins of term, place, substance and persons called Limme. We must do this because we must separate these from a family who bear the name Limmer. We ask if the Limmes took their name from Lymme the town, Lime the substance, Limme the ancient family name of aristocracy in Lymme or even lymmer the byword of the middle ages. All these theories have been forwarded as explanations.
The earliest references in England of the surname Limme seem to be in the time of King John. The town appears in its earliest form ‘Lymm’ under William 1, (1066 and all that). It appears in the doomsday book, although it probably retained the name from Roman times. Gilbert de Lymme had control of lands around Chester by late 12th century.
Gilbert received title and lands in Lymme after returning from fighting service. From this point on, he became known as Gilbert de Lymme.
Limme’s had been knights from 1100 AD, and probably well before this2. Gilbert’s predecessors may well have come from the continent with William the Conqueror; ‘We came… we saw … we stayed’ so to speak. However, we cannot confirm this3, but we do know the term limmer was in use before they came and embedded in this term is a tale of how limmer widened in use to everyday slang The plea rolls also assert :
‘ …the Family of Lymme took its surname from the place of Lymme and remaining as Lords of the manor until Edward the second. The first Gilbert de Lymme being Lord of the Moiety of Lymme in Cheshire in King John’s time …’ (1199 AD).4
Cheshire, the county in which Lymme resides, had been a source of lime since late Roman times. Under the period from Henry II to King John, (1189-1200 AD), buildings of bricks and lime mortar rose fast. Castles, no longer made of wood now become stone layered in lime mortar. Substantial buildings built in Saxon times, now shift in focus from war to peace as towns and cities increase in size rapidly, large quantities of lime travelled over land by horse and cart. The Plea Rolls describe Lymme’s lands as plots of separate functional pieces, while Bucklow Hundreds account describes how Gilbert Lymme’s land became worthless wasteland by late eleventh century. It looks like the Limmes of Lymme mined their land to profit from lime5. One such Knight, Gilbert by name 'was given lands in and around Lymm Cheshire6 in recognition of Knight’s service in the army of King Richard I. He became known as ‘Gilbert de Lymme’.
While installed in the army, presumably between crusades, Gilbert de Lymme had at least three sons, all of whom became knights. The older son, also Gilbert by name, later moved to Thingwall installed as Lord of the manor of Lee. This son of Gilbert Lymme became known as Gilbert de Lee7.
Quite when Domville’s became Lord of the Manor at Lymme cannot be fully determined. Gilbert de Lymme served King Richard I as knight out of loyalty to the crown. But his descendants, possibly influenced by Gilbert (Junior), saw the benefits of sub contracting their services. The Domvilles, who already owned much land in Chester received request for fighting men from the king. To supplement his quota Domvilles contracted the services of the De Lymme family to fight under their banner. De Lymmes fought for the king just as they had done before but with the added bonus of naming an ever-increasing price as the sub contractor. The disadvantage to this sort of arrangement was that knights fought under other Colours and any commendations in battle went to the employers credit. Lymmes interact with Domvilles throughout their family story. The Domvilles have their part to play in the migration of Lymmes from Cheshire to Suffolk.8