Aylmer places worldwide
Not surprisingly, place-name distribution follows the family around the globe.
Two Aylmers in particular have led to a spate of naming in North America and Australasia.
In Britain
But there is only one Aylmer-related place name in England, the village of Aylmerton in Norfolk.
I have visited the village, and there is no apparent reference to any Aylmer family links in the church or churchyard,
although apparently there are Aylmer graves in the village of Antingham about 10km away.
There is a farmstead called Almere on the banks of the River Dee in Wales which,
as my correspondent Barry Alymer recounts, gave rise to another branch of the family.
Another farm, showing the name clearly, is Aylmers Farm in Essex - prime Aylmer territory,
and close enough to me to be worth a visit sometime. This is near Harlow,
which has a William Aylmer pub
in the town centre.
There are a few Aylmer Roads or similar. One is very near our home, in Leytonstone, another not so far away in Becontree,
and a third is part of the A1 in north London so occasionally hits the traffic news.
More information on the Streets page.
In north America
There are five places called Aylmer in different parts of Canada and one in the north of the US.
I presume that they were named in honour of Lord Aylmer, the Governor of Canada from 1831 to 1835 -
find out more about him here.
Aylmer, Quebec,
is part of the city of Gatineau,
on the banks of the Ottowa River approximately 15km west of Ottawa itself.
Recent development has apparently stripped out much of the green heart of what is now essentially a 40,000-citizen suburb of Ottawa.
Aylmer, Ontario, is a small town of 7,000 people about 15 km south east of London close to Lake Erie.
It has its own website - click here -
and an e-newsletter - click here.
Pilots know it as a VOR station, location N42.42.40 W80.53.27.
In 2003 the local meat packing plant was alleged to be processing meat that was dead before it arrived at the abbatoir.
This became a local scandal, costing the local Conservative politician her seat,
and later the firm was heavily fined for illegal discharge of effluent.
The town was formerly a major centre for tobacco processing, but its last plant was due to close in 2007.
Lake Aylmer in the North West Territories - an exciting if remote place,
good for wolf watching and worth a page of its own.
Lac Aylmer in Quebec, around 80 miles south of Quebec city so not particularly near the town at the top of this list;
much smaller than the Lake in NWT, but it seems a pretty place, as the French language site
of the small town on its shores Beaulac-Garthby shows.
Mt Aylmer in Alberta, a 10,000ft peak in the Rockies.
Sometimes I think of making an expedition to the peak so it too has a page of its own.
Aylmer in North Dakota, a small town (= city in US) of about 6,000 people about 100 km north of the state capital Bismarck.
There is little on the web about this Aylmer apart from the picture on the right and listings of estate agents, lawyers and even a psychic.
More information please!
In Australasia
My correspondent Frank Aylmer has discovered these down-under places for the site.
Aylmerton in New South Wales, 100km south-west of Sydney.
Now a rapidly developing area, it was once not much more than a whistle stop on the railway line from Sydney to Melbourne.
Trains still pass through this and the 1km Aylmerton tunnel nearby.
Aylmer House
in Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula of New Zealand's South Island,
built by the Rev Aylmer for whom there is more information on the Praying Aylmers page.
There is also an Aylmers Stream which reaches the sea near Akaroa.
Mount Aylmer in New Zealand's Southern Alps.
At 2699m (8655ft) it doesn't quite match its Canadian namesake in height but is a far tougher climb by the looks of it - see left.
The peak was named by its surveyor Thomas Brodrick in honour of his wife, maiden name Helen Aylmer,
and first climbed on 26 December 1910.
In time I will try to find some more Aylmer places - let me know if you know of any.
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