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Barham History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Citations

Barham History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Barham is a name of ancient Norman origin. It arrived in England with the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Barham family lived in any of several places of this name in the counties of Middlesex and Kent having derived from the Old English words beorg, meaning hill, and ham, meaning homestead. 1

Early Origins of the Barham family

The surname Barham was first found in Kent, where Barham is a village and civil parish in the City of Canterbury. An ancient Saxon village, it was listed as Bioraham in 799 1 and later as Bercheham in the Domesday Book. 2 There are also parishes in the Dioceses Ely, Chichester, and Norwich.

The first record of the surname was Warine de Berham, as holding lands in Kent in 1203. 3

The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 included some early spellings for the name: Simon de Bernham in Norfolk; and Walter de Bernham in Suffolk. 4

The Placita de Quo Warranto, temp. Edward I-III listed John de Bernham, Kent, 20 Edward I (during the twentieth year of King Edward I's reign) and Thomas de Bernham, Suffolk.

"The family were lords of Barham, in Kent, at an early period, and according to Philipot, the Kentish genealogist, descendants of Robert de Berham, son of Richard Fitz-Urse, and brother of one of the assassins of Thomas a Beckett. " 5

"The Sussex Barhams are probably connected with the ancient Kentish family of Barham. In the 13th century Baham was a Suffolk name. " 6

Early History of the Barham family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Barham research. Another 133 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1390, 1391, 1535, 1577, 1595, 1621, 1625, 1626, 1634, 1667, 1670 and 1726 are included under the topic Early Barham History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Barham Spelling Variations

It is only in the last few hundred years that the English language has been standardized. For that reason, Anglo-Norman surnames like Barham are characterized by many spelling variations. Scribes and monks in the Middle Ages spelled names they sounded, so it is common to find several variations that refer to a single person. As the English language changed and incorporated elements of other European languages such as Norman French and Latin, even literate people regularly changed the spelling of their names. The variations of the name Barham include Barham, Bareham, Barrham, Braham, Bearham, Bereham and many more.

Early Notables of the Barham family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was

Nicholas Barham (d. 1577), was an early English lawyer, "a native of Wadhurst, Sussex. His family had been settled there for some generations, being a branch of the Barhams of Teston House, Teston, Ke...
Henry Barham (1670?-1726), was an English writer on natural history, and was descended from the Barhams of Barham Court in Kent. "In books of reference he has hitherto been confounded with his son, He...

Barham Ranking

In the United States, the name Barham is the 4,428^th most popular surname with an estimated 7,461 people with that name. 7

Barham migration to the United States +

Faced with the chaos present in England at that time, many English families looked towards the open frontiers of the New World with its opportunities to escape oppression and starvation. People migrated to North America, as well as Australia and Ireland in droves, paying exorbitant rates for passages in cramped, unsafe ships. Many of the settlers did not make the long passage alive, but those who did see the shores of North America were welcomed with great opportunity. Many of the families that came from England went on to make essential contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America carried the name Barham, or a variant listed above:

Barham Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Anthony Barham, who landed in Virginia in 1624 8
Anthony Barham who settled in Virginia in 1626
Mary Barham, who arrived in Virginia in 1641 8
Mary Barham, who settled in Virginia in 1654
Charles Barham, who landed in Virginia in 1668 8

Barham Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Thomas Barham, who settled in Maryland in 1720
Lewis Barham, who arrived in America in 1782 8

Barham migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Barham Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

William Barham, English convict from Sussex, who was transported aboard the "Arab" on July 3, 1822, settling in Van Diemen's Land, Australia 9
Margaret Barham, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Charles Kerr" in 1840 10
William Barham, aged 28, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Agincourt" in 1850 11
Mary Barham, aged 20, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Agincourt" in 1850 11
Rhoda Barham, aged 1, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Agincourt" in 1850 11
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Barham migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Barham Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

David Barham, who landed in Wellington, New Zealand in 1840
Mr. David Barham, Cornish settler travelling from Launceston aboard the ship "Halcyon" arriving in New Zealand in 1852 12
William Barham, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "City of Auckland" in 1871
Sarah Barham, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "City of Auckland" in 1871
Esther Barham, aged 15, a servant, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Berar" in 1875

Contemporary Notables of the name Barham (post 1700) +

Robert Jocelyn Barham (b. 1949), American farmer and politician, Director of Louisiana State Parks (2016-), Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (2008-2016)
Phillip Wayne Barham (b. 1957), American classical and jazz saxophonist, professor of saxophone at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tennessee
Erle Edwards Barham (1937-2014), American businessman, farmer, conservationist and politician, Louisiana State Senator for District 33 (1976-1980)
Mack Elwin Barham (1924-2006), American attorney who served on the Louisiana Supreme Court (1968-1975)
Charles Emmett "Cap" Barham (1905-1972), American politician, Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana (1952-1956)
William Foster Barham (1802-1845), English poet, third son of Thomas Barham 13
Thomas Foster Barham M.B. (1794-1869), English physician and classical scholar, eldest son of Thomas Barham 13
Thomas Foster Barham (1766-1844), born Thomas Foster, he assumed the name Barham by authority of a private Act of Parliament, as per the will of Henry Barham, an English musician and miscellaneous writer 13
Richard Harris Barham (1788-1845), English humorist, cleric and novelist, better known by his pseudonym Thomas Ingoldsby 13
Francis Foster Barham (1808-1871), English religious writer, known as the 'Alist', fifth son of Thomas Barham 13
... (Another 6 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Barham family +

HMAS Sydney II

Mr. Eric Ralph Barham (1905-1941), Australian Sick Berth Petty Officer from Burwood, Victoria, Australia, who sailed into battle aboard HMAS Sydney II and died in the sinking 14

SS Atlantic

R. Barham, who was traveling aboard the ship "SS Atlantic" when it struck rocks off Nova Scotia in 1873, died in the sinking

Citations +

Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
State Library of Queensland. (Retrieved 2016, October 27) Arab voyage to Van Diemen's Land, Australia in 1822 with 155 passengers. Retrieved from http://www.convictrecords.com.au/ships/arab/1822
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) CHARLES KERR 1840. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1840CharlesKerr.htm
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) The AGINCOURT 1850. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1850Agincourt.htm
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
Wikisource contributors. "Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900." Wikisource . Wikisource , 4 Jun. 2018. Web. 6 June 2019
HMAS Sydney II, Finding Sydney Foundation - Roll of Honour. (Retrieved 2014, April 24) . Retrieved from http://www.findingsydney.com/roll.asp