Feltham

This is a locational surname which derives from one of the two villages so-called, and found in Middlesex and Somerset. The name can be, and indeed has been over the centuries, confused with Felton, of which there are several villages in England, but the origins are quite different. The 'Feltham' villages were both recorded in the 1066 Domesday Book as Felteham (Middlesex) and Feltam (Somerset). The name means 'the hay farm', and given that growing hay was a national pursuit in those days, it is perhaps surprising that not more places were called Feltham. As to where the modern nameholders derive from is a matter of genealogy. The Coat of Arms of Feltham was granted in Somerset, but the earliest recording (see below) was from Middlesex, so clearly both villages played a part in the development of the surname. Examples of the recordings include Elizabeth Feltam who married Robert Oliver at Horsington, Somerset on November 16th 1581, whilst on June 23rd 1605, in the year of the Gunpowder Plot, Hieronyme Feltham was christened at Harrow on the Hill, Middlesex. Other recordings are those of John Feltham of Horsington on January 14th 1601, and David Feltham of Wincanton, Somerset on November 22nd 1629. The blazon of the coat of arms is that of a black field, charged with two ermine bars, in chief three leopards faces, all gold. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Marie Feltham, which was dated October 13th 1545, married Hugh Brinkloe at St Mary Le Bow, London, during the reign of King Henry V111, known as 'Bluff King Hal', 1510 - 1547. 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.