Worsham

Recorded as Worsam, Worssam, Worsham, Worsom and others, this is an English surname.It originates from Worsham, a village in the county of Sussex, recorded as Wyrtlesham, in the famous Anglo-Saxon Chronicles of the year 772 a.d. The placename shares the same first element as that in Wartling, a village not far away from Worsham, which is thepre 7th century personal name "Wyrtel", with -ham, meaning a village, manor, or homestead, and a common element in English placenames. In some instances the name may be from "Worsman", a variant of Wolstenholme, a locational name from a place in Lancashire, from the personal name "Wulfstan", or wolf-stone, plus the Viking "holmr", meaning an island, or dry land on a fen. Examples of recordings include Johanis Worsom, the son of Roberti Worsom, christened on September 8th 1594, at Selborne, Hampshire, Elizabeth Worsham married Isaac Griggs on May 10th 1614, at East Hanningfield, Essex, Edmond Worsam christened on November 21st 1641, at St. Olave's Southwark, London, whilst Mary, the daughter of John Worssam, was christened on February 25th 25th 1645, at Old Alresford, Hampshire. Perhaps the first recorded spelling of the family name may be that of John Woorsnam. This was dated November 28th 1591, when he married Katherine Manton, at St. Olave's, Hart Street, city of London, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, known as "Good Queen Bess", 1558 - 1603. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as the Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.