Show ContentsBallume History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Ballume is a name of ancient Anglo-Saxon origin and comes from the family once having lived in Suffolk, where they held a family seat in the village of Baylham, from which they took their name.

Early Origins of the Ballume family

The surname Ballume was first found in Suffolk, in the village and civil parish of Baylham. The village dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086 when it was first listed as Beleham and probably meant "homestead or enclosure at a river-bend" from the Old English words "begel" + "ham" or "hamm." 1

The parish, in the union and hundred of Bosmere and Claydon, East division of Suffolk, 3 miles from Needham-Market was small but contained about 275 inhabitants in the late 1890s. 2

Early History of the Ballume family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Ballume research. Another 287 words (20 lines of text) covering the years 1086, 1212, 1275, 1500, 1568, 1577, 1600, 1635, 1642, 1684 and 1830 are included under the topic Early Ballume History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ballume 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 Ballume family name include Baalham, Balan, Baylham, Balum, Balam, Ballam, Balaam and many more.

Early Notables of the Ballume family

More information is included under the topic Early Ballume Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ireland Migration of the Ballume family to Ireland

Some of the Ballume family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Ballume family

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 Ballume surname or a spelling variation of the name include: Charles Baalam who sailed to New England in 1656. Charles Balam arrived in Barbados in 1679 and William Balam sailed to Philadelphia in 1856.



  1. Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
  2. Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.


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