Hocksham History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Early Origins of the Hocksham family

The surname Hocksham was first found in Devon at Huxham, a parish, in the union of St. Thomas, hundred of Wonford. 1 2 3 4

Conjecturally, the surname is descended from the tenant of the lands of Huxham, held by Ralph de Pomeroy, a Norman noble from La Pommeraye in Bayeux in Normandy who was recorded in the Domesday Book census of 1086. Part of their castle still remains at Cingueleiz near Falaise.

It is here that the family's first record was found with a very early spelling variation. Robert de Hokesham was listed in the Pipe Rolls for Devon in 1230. 5

Early History of the Hocksham family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Hocksham research. Another 67 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1692, 1715, 1717 and 1768 are included under the topic Early Hocksham History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Hocksham 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 Hoxham, Hocksham, Hockham, Hockam, Hocksam, Hoxam and others.

Early Notables of the Hocksham family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was John Huxham (1692-1768), English physician, born at Totnes, Devonshire, the son of a butcher. "On 7 May 1715 he entered as a student under Boerhaave at Leyden, but being unable to stay the requisite three years, he graduated M.D. at Rheims in 1717. He took a house at Totnes, but soon moved to Plymouth. The dissenters generally consulted him, but his practice did not grow...
Another 73 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Hocksham Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Hocksham 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 Hocksham name or one of its variants: the name represented in many forms and recorded from the mid 17th century in the great migration from Europe. Migrants settled in the eastern seaboard from Newfoundland, to Maine, to Virginia, the Carolinas, and to the islands..

Citations +

Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Barber, Henry, British Family Names London: Elliot Stock, 62 Paternoster Row, 1894. Print.
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)