Althem History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• England

Early Origins of the Althem family

The surname Althem was first found in Lancashire where one of the first record of the name was found in 1246 when Adam de Eluetham held estates in what is now known as Altham in Whalley in that shire. Eltham in Kent was an ancient family seat. "This place, in Domesday Book called Alteham, is supposed to have derived its name from the Saxon, Eald, old, and Ham, a dwelling. It formed part of the royal demesnes in the reign of Edward the Elder, by whom it was given to Odo, Archbishop of Canterbury; and at a very early period became a favourite retreat of the English kings." ^[1]

A few years later, John of Eltham, 1st Earl of Cornwall (1316-1336) born at Eltham Palace, Kent, was the second son of king Edward II of England and his queen Isabella of France, heir to the English throne. "Edward II. resided here for some time, and at this place also his son was born, from this circumstance called John of Eltham, and the palace, erroneously, King John's Palace." ^[1] He was buried with full honors at Westminster Abbey in January 1337.

Important Dates for the Althem family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Althem research. Another 78 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1455, 1487, 1498, 1530, 1617, 1557, 1570, 1607, 1661, 1612 and 1786 are included under the topic Early Althem History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Althem Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Althem family name include Altham, Aletham, Althem, Althum, Allthem, Alltham, Eltham and many more.

Early Notables of the Althem family (pre 1700)

Distinguished members of the family include Agnes of Eltham (1498-1530), an English noblewoman who was an orphan and ward of Dartford Priory in Dartford, Kent who married Adam Langstroth, the head of a landed family in Yorkshire with 'a considerable dowry'. Sir James Altham (d. 1617), was an English judge, descended from Christopher Altham of Girlington, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the third son of...
Another 65 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Althem Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Althem migration to the United States

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Althem surname or a spelling variation of the name include:

Althem Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

• Jo Althem, who arrived in Maryland in 1633 ^[2]
• John Althem, who landed in Maryland in 1633 ^[2]

Citations

1. ^ Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
2. ^ 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)