Huxham History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Early Origins of the Huxham family

The surname Huxham 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 Huxham family

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

Huxham Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. When the Normans became the ruling people of England in the 11th century, they introduced a new language into a society where the main languages of Old and later Middle English had no definite spelling rules. These languages were more often spoken than written, so they blended freely with one another. Contributing to this mixing of tongues was the fact that medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, ensuring that a person's name would appear differently in nearly every document in which it was recorded. The name has been spelled Hoxham, Hocksham, Hockham, Hockam, Hocksam, Hoxam and others.

Early Notables of the Huxham family

John Huxham (1692-1768), English physician, born at Totnes, Devonshire, the son of a butcher...

Huxham migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Huxham Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mary Grace Huxham, aged 22, who arrived in Nelson, New Zealand aboard the ship "Lloyds" in 1842

Sources +

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)