Feetham

Recorded as Feacham, Feacham, Feechum, Feeham, Feetam, Feetham, and probably others, this is an English locational surname. It is apparently either a dialectal form of the place name Feckenham, a parish in the urban district of Redditch, in the county of Worcester, or it may be locational from Fincham in West Norfolk, or from Feetham, a hamlet near the village of Reeth in North Yorkshire. Such localised or slang forms of place names particularly those ending in '-enham' are relatively popular, Debenham is often Debnam, although when slang names occur, they are usually supported by at least some holders of the full name. Not so in this case, we have been unable to identify any surviving examples of the spelling as Feckenham or Feetham. Locational surnames are also usually 'from' names. That is to say names given to people after they left their former homes to move somewhere else. In so doing the spelling of the name was often changed to a 'sounds like' form, sometimes far removed from the original spelling. Feckenham means the place of the Facca tribe, whilst Fincham was a farm where finches gathered, and Feetham means the watermeadow. In this case examples of the surname recording include Mary Feetam of Fincham on May 12th 1605, John Fecknam of Alfrick with Lulsley in Worcestershire, on December 28th 1635, Elizabeth Feechum who was christened at St James church, Dukes Place, city of London, on June 15th 1679.