Wareham

Recorded in many spellings including Wareham, Warham, Wereham, Warram, Wharram, Woreham, and possibly Worsam, Worssam and Worsham which may be dialectal versions, this is an English surname. It is locational from either the town in the county of Dorset called Wareham, from the pre 7th century Olde English words "waer", meaning a weir, and "ham", a homestead, or from Warham, a parish in Norfolk, or possibly in some case from a now "lost" medieval village. Wareham was recorded as "Werham" in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles in 734, and as Warham in the Domesday Book of 1086. The surname dates from the 13th century, and early examples of the name recording include William Wareham (1450 - 1532), a graduate of Oxford University in 1475. He was appointed archbishop of Canterbury in 1504, and later he was involved in the divorce of King Henry V111th and the breaking off of relations with the Roman Catholic church. Edward Warum or Warram, was another student of Oxford University in 1583, whilst John Worsam was recorded at St Olaves Southwark, in the city of London, on November 8th 1640. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Henry de Warham. This was dated 1273, in the Hundred Rolls of the county of Norfolk, during the reign of King Edward 1st of England, 1272 - 1307. Throughout the centuries surnames in every country have continued to "develop," often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.