Asteham is one of the many new names that came to England following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Asteham family lived in Cheshire, at the Manor of Eastham.
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Early Origins of the Asteham family
The surname Asteham was first found in Cheshire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor of Eastham. At the taking of the Domesday Book in 1086, a census initiated by Duke William of Normandy after his conquest of England at Hastings in 1066, Eastham consisted of a village and Mill on the banks of the Mersey and the tenant-in-chief was Earl Hugh, the Earl of Chester who later became the Earl of Carlisle. Eastham was one of many holdings in Cheshire by Earl Hugh and conjecturally the Easthams are descended from a relative or a Norman noble tenant who operated the Mill. Two or three centuries later when the village of Liverpool took shape, there was a ferry from Eastham, a part of the borough of Bebington.
Early History of the Asteham family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Asteham research. Another 89 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Asteham History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Asteham Spelling Variations
Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Eastham, Eastam, Estham, Esteham, Esterham and others.
Early Notables of the Asteham family
More information is included under the topic Early Asteham Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
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Migration of the Asteham family
Because of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Asteham name or one of its variants: Michael Esterham who landed in North America in 1710.
