PLEASE RESPECT THE LIVING BY NOT USING ANY INFORMATION ABOUT THEM WITHOUT PERMISSION.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE THE ACCESS CODE(FOR THOSE LIVING)PLEASE E.MAIL THE ADMINISTRATOR 
AND HE WILL BE HAPPY TO E.MAIL IT TO YOU. 
.................................................................................
======================================================================================
From the Early 1300's the Sherman's lived and traded wool and cloth in Yaxley and 
Diss at the weekly markets in Suffolk County.
In the middle 1500's they started moving South to Bramford Ipswich and Dedham in 
Essex County as wool trade with the Continent started increasing.
In the late 1500's and early 1600's some Sherman's moved South West towards Cornwall.
(Due to the upheaval between the Church and the Monarchy.)
In the 1630's 13 Sherman's moved from Dedham to the New World America (and it is from 
these most American Sherman's originate from).
The Sherman's in Cornwall stayed in that area till about 1750 when some moved across 
country towards Hampshire where many still live today.Many others can still be found 
living in Cornwall.
......................................................................................
The Sherman Family Origin
-------------------------
The Sherman name first appeared among some Saxony people living along the Rhine river 
as far back as the 10th century.
The earliest record found of the Sherman name in England was, 8 June 1274. A license 
to trade in wool was granted at Westminster to Richard Le Sherman, a merchant trading 
in Essex County.
Before the 12th century most people only had a first name. Later their occupation was 
often added to the first name and became their last or surname. England adopted 
occupational names starting in the 12th century. Middle names did not appear until 
the early 1800s.
The origin of the name Sherman apparently came from some early progenitor whose 
occupation was a dresser or shearer of cloth: One who sheared worsted, fustians etc 
to even the nap. This is they were cloth dressers and workers with cloth, commonly 
called clothiers (they dealt with cloth, not clothes). This kind of tradesman was 
referred to as the "Shearmancraft."
Names were seldom written in the 1300-1500s, but when they were they were generally 
spelled as the recorder saw fit. English spellings are Shearmen, Sharman, Shereman 
Sherman and Shurman. German and Dutch spellings are Schuerman, Schuermann and 
Schuurman. 
French spellings have the "le" prefix, for example le Sherman.
The common spelling seen in early documents for our family name is Shearman, until 
about mid 1800s when it changed gradually to Sherman. The Sherman spelling is used 
throughout this genealogy, except when quoting documents.
The Shermans in England were middleman who bought lengths of cloth from cottage 
weavers. Then they dressed or sheared it, dyed it if they had a woadhouse, sorted it 
for quality, baled it, marked it with their trademark, and sold it at weekly auctions 
to the clothes makers.
Our early Sherman ancestors were wealthy land gentry and yeomanry, who lived mostly 
in the area Northeast of London called East Anglian.
......................................................................................