Lechmere

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A family name of English origin, borne by several notable people ; a place name, such as a transit station in the Boston area of Massachusetts
2. An English family surname that has been carried by various historical figures ; a geographic name, for example a Green Line stop in Cambridge, Massachusetts
3. A surname of English origin shared by several people in history ; the name of a locality, including a subway station in Greater Boston

Etymology: In 1888, a carman named Charles Allen Lechmere gave his name to a police constable as Charles Cross while standing beside the body of Mary Ann Nichols, one of the victims attributed to Jack the Ripper. He had been raised by a stepfather called Cross and used that name, so the surname's most famous bearer is remembered mainly through that mix-up, and a suspect theory was built on it. The surname itself is English and is thought to be a place name, probably from Old English elements such as "lēah" (a clearing or wood) and "mere" (a pool or lake), though the exact original location is uncertain. Families taking their name from a locality was standard practice in medieval England, and the Lechmere family became known as landowners in Worcestershire, where they held estates and later received a baronetcy. The name has stayed largely within that family line and its descendants.