Edm.

Edm. is a clerk's shortening of the given name Edmund. Busy writers cut common first names down to a few letters, often raising the last letters above the line, and the habit runs through deeds, wills, tax lists and census pages.

Edmund and Edward begin with the same letters, and the two short forms Edm. and Edw. are easy to mix up in faded handwriting. Look for the m or the w carefully, and compare with other records that spell the name out.