Frenchum

This surname is not as may be thought anything to do with the people of France, Frenchum is a London dialectal variant of Anglo-Saxon origins. It derives from a village formerly known as "Fremesham" in the "Cartularium Saxonicum" of 967 A.D., and is among the earliest of all known recordings. Today the village is known as Frensham (Surrey), and has been since the 15th Century, the "modern" surname being only a slight distortion. The name means "the home (stead) of Framela's people", a tribal name for the early inhabitants. There are a number of spelling forms for the surname including Frensham, Frencham, Frinsham, Frensom (all Surrey, and Frenchum (London). The epicentre of the name is Farnham in Surrey, the early recordings include: Henry Frensham, who was christened at Farnham, on Christmas Day in 1556, whilst in London the first recording may be that of John Frencham, at St. Katherine by the Tower, on October 16th 1639. On February 26th 1775, John Frenchum and his wife, Mary, are recorded at St. Andrew's Church, Enfield, Middlesex, at the christening of the son, also called John. This may be the origin of the spelling. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Alice Frensham, which was dated November 20th 1551, marriage to John Turner, at Farnham, Surrey, during the reign of King Edward V1, known as "The Boy King", 1547 - 1554. 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.