| ![Show Contents]() Durham History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
Etymology of DurhamWhat does the name Durham mean? The Durham surname is a habitational name, originally taken on from the city of Durham, in northeastern England. This place name comes from the Old English "dun," meaning "hil." Another source claims the name "is derived from the Saxon Bun and holm, a town in a wood." 1 Early Origins of the Durham familyThe surname Durham was first found in "Durham in the north of England, anciently Dunhelm or Dunholm." 2 3 The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 list Walter de Durham and William de Dureham in London and John de Durame in Essex. 4 By far the lion's share of records are found north in Scotland where "Robertus de Durham was one of twelve Scots knights appointed to settle the laws of the marches in 1249. The seal of Walter Durham of Dumfriesshire who rendered homage in 1290 reads S' Valteri Dwrant. " 2 Early History of the Durham familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Durham research. Another 115 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1246, 1296, 1399, 1565, 1611, 1622, 1658 and 1684 are included under the topic Early Durham History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Durham Spelling VariationsSpelling variations of this family name include: Durham, Durehame, Durrame, Dirom and others. Early Notables of the Durham family- Alexander Durhame, argentier to the king and queen in 1565; John Durham, English politician, Member of Parliament for Middlesex in 1399; and Alexander Durham, Minder of the Royal Mint
- James Durham (1622-1658), was a Scottish covenanting divine, the eldest son of John Durham of Grange Durham Angus, and proprietor of 'a good estate,' then called Easter Powrie, in the county of Forfar...
Durham Rankingthe United States, the name Durham is the 696th most popular surname with an estimated 42,279 people with that name. 5 Migration of the Durham family to IrelandSome of the Durham 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.
| Durham migration to Australia | + |
Emigration to Australia included the First Fleet of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include: Following the First Fleet, other convicts and early settlers arriving in Australia include: Durham Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century- Mr. William Durham, English convict who was convicted in Wiltshire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Eliza" on 2nd February 1831, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 7
- R.G. Durham, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Posthumous" in 1849 8
| Durham 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: Durham Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century- Mary Durham, aged 54, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Catherine Stewart Forbes" in 1841
- Mr. John Durham, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Spray of the Ocean" arriving in Auckland, New Zealand on 1st September 1859 9
| Durham migration to Canada | + |
Durham Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century- Mr. John Durney U.E. who settled in Saint John, New Brunswick c. 1784 10
Durham Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century- Miss. Bridget Durham, aged 7 who immigrated to Canada, arriving at the Grosse Isle Quarantine Station in Quebec aboard the ship "John Munn" departing from the port of Liverpool, England but died on Grosse Isle in September 1847 11
Durham Settlers in Canada in the 20th Century- William Durham, who arrived in Saint John, New Brunswick in 1907
| Durham migration to the United States | + |
Durham Settlers in United States in the 17th Century- Elizabeth Durham who settled in Virginia in 1653
- John Durham, who arrived in Virginia in 1658 12
- Mary Durham, who arrived in Maryland in 1658 12
- Richard Durham, who landed in Maryland in 1659 12
- John Durham, who arrived in Maryland in 1673 12
- ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Durham Settlers in United States in the 18th Century- Daniel Durham, who arrived in Virginia in 1711 12
- Daniell Durham, who landed in Virginia in 1711 12
- George Durham, who settled in Virginia in 1721
- Robert Durham, who settled in Maryland in 1729 with his wife Elizabeth
- John Durham, who landed in Virginia in 1749 12
- ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Durham Settlers in United States in the 19th Century- Samuel, Durham Jr., who landed in America in 1801-1802 12
- Samuel Durham, who arrived in New York in 1801
- James Durham, who arrived in New York, NY in 1811 12
- Margaret Durham, who landed in New York, NY in 1811 12
- William Durham, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1851 12
- ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
| Contemporary Notables of the name Durham (post 1700) | + |
- Jonathan Durham (1965-2025), English footballer, played as a striker, played for Rotherham United and Torquay United throughout the 1980s and reached the final of the FA Vase with Taunton Town (1993-1994)
- Judith Durham OAM (1943-2022), born Judith Mavis Cockis, Australian jazz singer and musician, lead vocalist for the Australian folk music group The Seekers
- Eunice Durham (1932-2022), Brazilian anthropologist
- Jimmie Bob Durham (1940-2021), American sculptor, essayist and poet who received the Günther-Peill-Preis (2003), the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Robert Rauschenberg Award (2017), and the 58th Venice Biennale's Golden Lion for lifetime achievement (2019)
- Mr. E. M. Durham, British alderman, held the position of Sheriff of Nottingham, England from 1966 to 1967
- Dianne Durham (1968-2021), American artistic gymnast who won the all-around title at the US National Championships in 1983 becoming the first African American athlete to do so
- Woody Lombardi Durham (1941-2018), American play-by-play radio announcer for the North Carolina Tar Heels football and men’s basketball programs
- John Stafford Durham (1843-1918), American Union Army soldier during the American Civil War who received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Perryville
- Joseph Vann "Joe" Durham (1931-2016), American Major League Baseball player and coach; he played from 1954 to 1959
- ... (Another 8 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
| Historic Events for the Durham family | + |
SS Koombana - Mr. Henry Durham (1889-1912), British born Australian steward who was lost at see when the ship "SS Koombana" sank in a tropical cyclone on 20th March 1912
- Mr. William Teasdale Durham, American Seaman First Class from North Carolina, USA working aboard the ship "USS Arizona" when she sunk during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7th December 1941, he died in the sinking 13
The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.
Motto: Ultra fert animus
Motto Translation: The mind bears onwards
- Arthur, William , An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. London: 1857. Print
- Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
- Sims, Clifford Stanley The Origin and Signification of Scottish Surnames. 1862. 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)
- "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
- Convict Records of Australia. Retrieved 4th February 2021 from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships
- Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 28th February 2022). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/eliza
- State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) The POSTHUMOUS 1849. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1849Posthumous.htm
- New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 26th March 2019). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
- Rubincam, Milton. The Old United Empire Loyalists List. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1976. (Originally published as; United Empire Loyalists. The Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada. Rose Publishing Company, 1885.) ISBN 0-8063-0331-X
- Charbonneau, André, and Doris Drolet-Dubé. A Register of Deceased Persons at Sea and on Grosse Île in 1847. The Minister of Canadian Heritage, 1997. ISBN: 0-660-198/1-1997E (p. 26)
- Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
- Pearl Harbour: USS Arizona Casualties List Pearl Harbour December 7, 1941. (Retrieved 2018, July 31st). Retrieved from http://pearl-harbor.com/arizona/casualtylist.html
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