Surname Wickersham...?

Question

Does anyone have the slightest idea of where in England many Wickersham's are from?

Answer 1

I did some  looking for you  but I thought this web site would help you the most      

http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~...

here is a little about it

Greetings and welcome. If you are a Wickersham genealogist, we hope you will find this site to be a valuable resource. Our goal is to act as a  clearing house for Wickersham information to facilitate your family history search. You will also find information here about our new book, The Wickersham Family in America, currently available from Heritage Books, Inc.

It has been our goal to make available to everyone the information we have gathered during the past 25 years of research on the Wickersham  family. The best and most lasting way to do this seemed to be to publish a book of the work. Widespread distribution of the book will help to insure that the Wickersham story is available to future generations. This has been a labor of love by volunteer Wickersham genealogists who have given freely of their time, talents, and resources for many years to compile the book. We are grateful to so  many individuals who have spent so much time and energy on Wickersham family history at their own expense to make this book possible.

You will find on this site information from the book on Thomas the immigrant who came to Chester County, Pennsylvania from England in 1700 with his new wife and three children from a previous marriage.  It was from this small beginning that the Wickershams of America began their American saga. We hope you will take this information and enjoy it.

Also, on the site, you will find a list of the surnames associated with the Wickersham family, photographs of Wickershams, links  and a vital records repository. We welcome your submissions of additional photos and vital records. (Please note that submission does not guarantee acceptance.) As time permit we hope to also add bits of Wickersham history, especially about famous Wickersham family members.

In addition, we administer the Wickersham Message Boards at Rootsweb/Ancestry.com. We hope you will take full advantage of this query board where you can make contact with other Wickersham researchers.

Even if you are not a serious genealogist we believe you will enjoy the book and this website. We bid you "Welcome".

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Wickersham National Archive

http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~...

We wish to inform you of the establishment of the Wickersham National Archive at the Chester County Historical Society, Chester County, Pennsylvania for the benefit of all those of current and future generations who wish to learn of the Wickersham family.

The archive is being established to provide a place to store and preserve Wickersham history including diaries; wills; birth, death and marriage certificates; obituaries; photographs; biographies and other documents and memorabilia.

This is our opportunity to act as trustees of the lives and memories of those in our families who might otherwise be forgotten by preserving their personal histories. Anyone who is interested in donating materials to the archive should contact Dr. g*y Wickersham Davis who will act as collector for this project. Copies of photos and original materials that families wish to retain can be duplicated and returned by the historical society. Donations are tax deductible.

The Wickersham family has played a noble and significant role in the history of the United States of America. We would like your help in documenting and preserving this history for those who follow.

  WICKERSHAM ARCHIVE COMMITTEE:

            Joan Burns

            g*y Wickersham Davis

            Patricia Escalante

            Helen Sheldon

            Don Yoder



SUBMISSION OF MATERIALS

The Wickersham Archive will contain information on all Wickershams who have ever lived in America for whom information is available. The materials listed below are being solicited for the archive. Original documents of antiquity will receive special handling and be reposited in the historical society vaults. For information on how to transmit fragile materials, please contact one of the committee members for specific instructions. Other materials should be submitted in original form whenever possible. Copies to be submitted should look as close to the original as possible and be submitted in duplicate.

Photographs should be identified on a separate paper with the individual’s name, parent’s names, and date of birth. Avoid marking on the photograph. If you cannot obtain copies of photographs you wish to contribute, you may send the original and it will be copied and returned to you; however, it would be most appreciated if you make the copies before sending to avoid the added labor and costs to the archive.

Brief personal histories may be sent in with the photos or with other family information. These histories will be included with other information about the person and his/her immediate family. They may be edited if they are lengthy.

Donations are tax deductible but values must be established by the donor.



Archival Materials Accepted

Diaries and other writings

Wills

Birth, marriage, and death certificates

Obituaries (please note newspaper and date published when available)

Funeral Programs

Photographs

Family Bibles

Family Group Sheets

Brief personal histories of individuals

Newspaper, magazine, or other written articles about Wickershams

Land grants



For further submission information, contact one of the following persons:



g*y Wickersham Davis  

[e-mail]

[e-mail]

Fax: [phone]

Joan Burns

[e-mail]

Patricia Escalante

[e-mail]

Helen Sheldon

[e-mail]

Don Yoder  

Fax: [phone]

Answer 2

I was stunned to find this for you, I have never heard of the name before.

Surname: Wickersham

This rare habitational surname originates from a now "lost" medieval site or village of Norse-Viking origins. The derivation is from the pre 9th Century "Wichnare" meaning an estate steward or bailiff, plus the Anglo-Saxon "ham", a manor or farmstead, "the steward's house". Although the site does not appear in the medieval village lists prepared by the Royal Commission on Ancient Monuments (1990), this is not unusual; some three thousand plus sites remain known but undiscovered. The surname is recorded widely in 17th Century Sussex, and similarly in London, but not in any of the surrounding counties. Habitational surnames were usually developed as a result of a village being "cleared" for farming, the occupants being scattered, and taking as their identification their former village name. This action often led to a wide range of variant spellings, although this is not the case with Wickersham. Examples of the name include: Richard Wickersham, who married Mary Evans at East Grimstead, on January 1st 1627, and Frances Wickersham, who married Thomas Goldsmith at Lancing, Sussex, on July 7th 1763. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Thomas Wickerhames, which was dated July 1st 1608, marriage to Margrett Devenish, at All Saints Church, Wandsworth, Surrey, during the reign of King James 1 of England and V1 of Scotland, 1603 - 1625. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

Wickersham meanin is:

  English: habitational name from a lost or unidentified place

-  kind of funny considering you are trying to find where they are from!

Most Wickersham's in England are located in Sussex with a few in the London/Durham areas as well.

Hope that helps!

Answer 4

It is almost funny that itjustme has never heard of it.. and me, it is the last name of my ex's grandmother's 2nd husband.  HE came from Oklahoma.  

The question is.. are you more interested in where the name itself originated, or looking to find ancestry, proof of who someone's parents were?  Two valid but different approaches. The surname will have originated hundreds of years ago.. but that is not to say that, at the time of your ancestor's birth.. it isn't going to be concentrated in one locality.

I find in census records, that the name is in the US at least by 1850, and before. This does NOT PROVE that your ancestor is part of this group (who are not necessarily related).  Example..one of my ancestors of a certain name, immigrated to the US before 1700, from England.  We also find records of another immigrant.. same name.. who left England after 1850.

If you are wanting to make the "connection" to your roots in England.. you have to identify the actual immigrant, and do this, by tracing the individual persons back. Once you have a valid name AND date, you can start to work through such things as parish registers and such, and hopefully find the birth records.

btw, drop me a note if your line has links to Oklahoma.