Faireham History, Family Crest & Coats of ArmsEtymology of FairehamWhat does the name Faireham mean? Faireham is a name whose history is connected to the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name is derived from when the Faireham family once lived at Farnham, in several different counties including Buckinghamshire, Dorset, Essex, Suffolk, and the West Riding of Yorkshire. They were derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. In this case the surname Faireham was originally derived from the Old English words fearn + hamm which means a fern-covered homestead or property. 1 Another source has a slightly different understanding of the name: "so called from the Saxon Fearn, fern, and ham, a habitation or village—the village in the place overgrown with fern." 2 Early Origins of the Faireham familyThe surname Faireham was first found in one of the many villages names Farnham throughout England in the following counties or shires: Dorset, Essex, North Yorkshire, Suffolk, and Surrey. Farnham Common and Farnham Royal are located in Buckinghamshire. 3 The name has numerous listings in the Domesday Book with various spellings that were in use at the time: Fernham, Dorset; Phernham Essex; Fareham North Yorkshire; Farnham, Suffolk; and Fernham Surrey. Farnham Royal was listed as Fernham Riall. 4 While one would suppose the surname originated from one or more of the aforementioned locals, another reference suggests we must look to Leicestershire, specifically Quorndon to find the surname's true origin as in "this ancient family was certainly seated at Quorndon two descents before the reign of Edward I." 5 Early rolls point to many of the aforementioned counties of England: Richard de Farenham in the Pipe Rolls for Surrey in 1205; Robert de Farnham in the Assize Rolls for Yorkshire in 1219; and John de Farnam, listed a a Freeman of York in 1323. 6 Early History of the Faireham familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Faireham research. Another 123 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1290, 1312, 1483, 1636, 1642, 1665, 1666, 1753, 1784, 1832 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Faireham History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Faireham Spelling VariationsSound 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 Faireham family name include Farnham, Farnhams, Farnhan, Fearnham, Farneham and others. Early Notables of the Faireham familyNotables of the family at this time include Richard Farnham (d. 1642), fanatic, "a weaver who came from Colchester to Whitechapel about 1636, where he and a fellow-craftsman, John Bull, announced that they were prophets inspired with 'the very spirit of God.' They claimed to be 'the two great prophets which should come... Migration of the Faireham family to IrelandSome of the Faireham family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. Migration of the Faireham familyFor 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 Faireham surname or a spelling variation of the name include: Thomas and Ralph Farnham who had came to Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1634; as did Henry Farnham of Warwickshire, who settled there in 1644. Alice, Mary, and Ralph Farnham settled in Boston Massachusetts in 1635.
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