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Soon after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, the name Filgrim was recognized on the island as a name for a person who had made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land or some devotional area in Europe such as the tomb of St. Thomas a Beckett at Canterbury.
The surname Filgrim was first found in Norfolk, where the family held lands after the Norman Conquest. Robert, John, and Thomas Pelerin were all registered in Normandy between 1180 and 1195.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Filgrim research. Another 44 words (3 lines of text) covering the years 1189, 1200 and 1273 are included under the topic Early Filgrim History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
A multitude of spelling variations characterize Norman surnames. Many variations occurred because Old and Middle English lacked any definite spelling rules. The introduction of Norman French to England also had a pronounced effect, as did the court languages of Latin and French. Therefore, one person was often referred to by several different spellings in a single lifetime. The various spellings include Pilgrim, Pilgrime, Pilgram, Pegram, Pegrem, Pelerin, Peregrine and many more.
More information is included under the topic Early Filgrim Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Many English families left England, to avoid the chaos of their homeland and migrated to the many British colonies abroad. Although the conditions on the ships were extremely cramped, and some travelers arrived diseased, starving, and destitute, once in the colonies, many of the families prospered and made valuable contributions to the cultures of what would become the United States and Canada. Research into the origins of individual families in North America has revealed records of the immigration of a number of people bearing the name Filgrim or a variant listed above: William Pilgrim, who sailed to Virginia in 1665; Walter Pilgram sailed to Maryland in 1677; Thomas Pilgrim sailed to Barbados in 1680; Richard Pilgrim sailed to Maryland in 1742..