Bedham

Recorded in many spellings including Beadham, Beedham, Beddam, Bedam, Bedome, Beedom, Beedome and no doubt others, this is an English locational surname. According to the entries in the famous International Genealogical Index the name originated from a place called Beadham, although we have not been able to identify such a place. This may be because if such a place existed it does no longer. As such it is a potential member of the 'Lost' medieval village group, of which it is estimated, that were all lost places in the British Isles to be identified there would be five thousand entries, or as we believe it is from a now 'diminished' hamlet called Bedum, near the town of Petworth in the county of Sussex. The meaning of the placename and hence the surname is almost certainly Bedda's home (or farm), with Bedda being an Olde English pre 7th century personal name. This could be a form of Bede, meaning bead or small. Early examples of the surname recording in the surviving registers of the city of London include examples such as Will Beedam at the church of St Katherines by the Tower (of London), on September 29th 1585, Dionyse Beedom who was christened at St Botolphs without Aldgate, on October 19th 1646, and Elizabeth Beedham who married William Powell, at St Martins in the Field, Westminster, on March 28th 1796.