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Ingham History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Citations

Ingham History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland

The ancient roots of the Ingham family are in the Anglo-Saxon culture. The name Ingham comes from when the family lived at Hingham, a market-town and parish, in the incorporation and hundred of Forehoe in Norfolk. The parish dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086 when it was known as Hincham. 1

By 1173, the parish was known as Heingeham and probably meant "homestead of the family or followers of a man called Hega," from the Old English personal name + "inga" + "ham. 2

Another very reputable source has a very different understanding of the name. The Dutchess believes the name was originally Engaine, "from Engen or Ingen, near Boulogne: a baronial name, that has travelled down to our own times under an English disguise as Ingham. 'There are many places in England,' says Morant, 'named Gaynes, Engaines, D'Engains: one, for instance, near St. Neots in Huntingdonshire: another at Taversham in Cambridgeshire:' two, I may add, in Essex, Colne-Engaine and Gaines, held by Sir John Engaine in 1271 by the service of keeping the King's greyhounds; and one in Herefordshire, Aston Engen, now Aston Ingham. The original seat of the family was, however, at Senelai (Shenley) in Buckinghamshire, held in capite by Richard de Engen or Ingaine in 1086, with Redinges in Hunts. 1." 3

Early Origins of the Ingham family

The surname Ingham was first found in Norfolk where Ralph de Hungham or Hengham, (d. 1311), the early English judge, son of Sir Andrew de Hengham or Hingham, was born at St. Andrew's Manor during the second quarter of the thirteenth century.

"Like most of the great lawyers of his time he was an ecclesiastic. On 29 Oct. 1274 he was preferred to the prebend of Moreton-cum-Whaddon in the church of Hereford; on 19 Oct. 1275 he was appointed to the chancellorship of the diocese of Exeter, which he resigned in 1279. In 1280 he received the prebendal stall of Cadington Major in the church of St. Paul's, which he held until his death. On 16 Nov. 1287 he was appointed to the archdeaconry of Worcester, but resigned the office in the following year (Le Neve, Fasti, i. 417, 512, ii. 369, iii. 74). His rise as a lawyer must have been rapid. " 4

Oliver de Ingham Baron Ingham (d. 1344), Seneschal of Aquitaine, was "son of Sir John de Ingham (1260-1309) of Ingham, Norfolk, by his wife Maroya or Mercy. An ancestor, also named Oliver, was living in 1183. John de Ingham served frequently in Edward I's wars in Scotland. Oliver was summoned to perform military service in Scotland in 1310 and 1314. In 1321 he was made governor of Ellesmere Castle, Shropshire, and next year actively supported the king in his operations against Thomas of Lancaster." 4

Early English rolls provide us a glimpse of the spelling variations used through Medieval times. Ralph de Hengham was listed in the Subsidy Rolls for Worcester in 1275 and Ralph de Hengham was recorded in Yorkshire in 1303. 5

The Ingham variant similarly hails from Norfolk, but some could have originated in Lincolnshire. The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 include: John de Ingham, Norfolk; Nicholas de Ingham, Norfolk; and Oliver de Ingeham, Wiltshire. 6

Early History of the Ingham family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Ingham research. Another 70 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1287, 1328 and 1344 are included under the topic Early Ingham History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ingham Spelling Variations

One relatively recent invention that did much to standardize English spelling was the printing press. However, before its invention even the most literate people recorded their names according to sound rather than spelling. The spelling variations under which the name Ingham has appeared include Ingham, Hugham, Inghem, Ingam and others.

Early Notables of the Ingham family

Notables of the family at this time include

Oliver Ingham (or De Ingham, d’Ingham) (1287-1344), English commander and administrator in Aquitaine during the War of Saint-Sardos and early Hundred Years War

Ingham Ranking

In the United States, the name Ingham is the 8,641^st most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 7 However, in the United Kingdom, the name Ingham is ranked the 978^th most popular surname with an estimated 7,128 people with that name. 8

Ingham migration to the United States +

At this time, the shores of the New World beckoned many English families that felt that the social climate in England was oppressive and lacked opportunity for change. Thousands left England at great expense in ships that were overcrowded and full of disease. A great portion of these settlers never survived the journey and even a greater number arrived sick, starving, and without a penny. The survivors, however, were often greeted with greater opportunity than they could have experienced back home. These English settlers made significant contributions to those colonies that would eventually become the United States and Canada. An examination of early immigration records and passenger ship lists revealed that people bearing the name Ingham arrived in North America very early:

Ingham Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Thomas Ingham, who landed in New England in 1657 9

Ingham Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Jonas Ingham, who landed in New England in 1705 9
Ben Ingham, who settled in Georgia in 1735
Benjamin Ingham, who arrived in Savanna(h), Georgia in 1736 9

Ingham Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Joseph and William Ingham, who arrived in Philadelphia in 1858

Ingham migration to Australia +

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

Ingham Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

John Thomas Ingham, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Eden" in 1838 10
Jane Ingham, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Eden" in 1838 10
Robert Ingham, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Eden" in 1838 10
Susan Ingham, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Eden" in 1838 10
Mr. William Ingham, Scottish convict who was convicted in Ayr, Scotland for 7 years, transported aboard the "Barossa" on 27th August 1841, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 11
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Ingham 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:

Ingham Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Samuel Ingham, aged 16, who arrived in Port Nicholson aboard the ship "Oriental" in 1840
Mr. William Ingham, British settler as part of the 8th Detachment of the Royal New Zealand Fencibles travelling from Gravesend aboard the ship "Oriental Queen" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 18th September 1849 12
Mrs. Rosina Ingham, British settler travelling from Gravesend aboard the ship "Oriental Queen" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 18th September 1849 12
James Ingham, aged 20, a servant, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Dilharree" in 1875
Charles Ingham, aged 19, a ploughman, who arrived in Hawkes Bay aboard the ship "Clarence" in 1875

Contemporary Notables of the name Ingham (post 1700) +

Samuel Ingham (1793-1881), American politician, two-term Congressman from Connecticut
Samuel Delucenna Ingham (1779-1860), American Congressman and U.S. Treasury Secretary under President Andrew Jackson, eponym of the USCGC Ingham (WHEC-35)
Sir James Taylor Ingham (1805-1890), English police magistrate, born 17 Jan. 1805, a younger son of Joshua Ingham of Blake Hall, Yorkshire 13
Benjamin Ingham (1712-1772), English evangelist from Yorkshire, born at Ossett, Yorkshire, on 11 June 1712, was son of William Ingham, who lived at one time at Dewsbury 13
Michael Ingham (b. 1980), English-born Northern Irish footballer
Harold "Harry" Ingham, English footballer in the nearly 20th century
Barrie Ingham (b. 1932), English stage, television and film actor
Alice Ingham (1830-1890), English Roman Catholic nun and missionary
Albert Edward Ingham (1900-1967), English mathematician
Peter William Ingham AM (1941-2024), Australian bishop, the fourth Roman Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Wollongong, serving from 2001 to 2018
... (Another 8 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Ingham family +

HMAS Sydney II

Mr. John Wakelin Ingham (1920-1941), Australian Acting Leading Stoker from Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia, who sailed into battle aboard HMAS Sydney II and died in the sinking 14

HMS Halsted

Mr. Thomas Ingham (b. 1926), British Royal Navy ordinary seaman from Burnley, England was stationed aboard the "HMS Halsted" when it was struck by torpedo by Jaguar and Mowe of the Cherbourg coast on 11th June 1944, he did not survive

HMS Repulse

Mr. Eric A Ingham, British Telegraphist, who sailed into battle on the HMS Repulse (1941) and survived the sinking 15

Citations +

Williams, Dr Ann. And G.H. Martin, Eds., Domesday Book A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 1992. Print. (ISBN 0-141-00523-8)
Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Cleveland, Dutchess of The Battle Abbey Roll with some Account of the Norman Lineages. London: John Murray, Abermarle Street, 1889. Print. Volume 2 of 3
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
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)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
"UK surname ranking." UK Surname map, https://www.surnamemap.eu/unitedkingdom/surnames_ranking.php?p=10
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 Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) EDEN 1838. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1838Eden.htm
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 24th September 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/barossa
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
Wikisource contributors. "Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900." Wikisource . Wikisource , 4 Jun. 2018. Web. 26 October 2020
HMAS Sydney II, Finding Sydney Foundation - Roll of Honour. (Retrieved 2014, April 24) . Retrieved from http://www.findingsydney.com/roll.asp
HMS Repulse Crew members. (Retrieved 2014, April 9) . Retrieved from http://www.forcez-survivors.org.uk/biographies/listrepulsecrew.html