KINGHAM SURNAME RESOURCE PAGE
Compiled by Graham Thomas


Introduction
The purpose of these pages is to act as a resource for the Kingham family name. I am happy to be a repository of any information that you wish to supply.
This resource started in August 1999 and it is growing slowly. So please note this is an active page that I am maintaining even if it doesn't change significantly from one visit to the next.
My own connection and interest in the name can be traced back definitively to Edward Kingham, born circa 1690, in Cranfield, Bedfordshire, England.
Most recent updates include new researchers; and some information about the first known Kinghams to emmigrate (or be transported) to the United States. (See Odds and Sods page).
Graham Thomas, March 2002
graham thomas
 

Kingham: English. Habitation name from a place in Oxon., so called from the Old English Coegingaham meaning ' homestead of the people of Ceaga.' Ceaga is a byname for key or peg.
In the DB Kingham was spelt Caningeham, by 1236 it was spelt Keingham.
A Dictionary of Surnames by Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges. Oxford

But there are other place names where the name may have originated:
Keyingham in East Riding. In the DB it was spelt as Caingeham, Kaingham in 1190.
There is also a Cainham in Shropshire which became Kayham in 1265.
All of the above are derive from  the place/homestead of Caega's people. However as the earliest clustered occurence of Kingham is in Buckinghamshire the connection with Kingham (the village) in the next door county of Oxfordshire is most likely.

Early Origins
Despite the Oxford Dictionary's belief that the name came from the village of Kingham (this, by the way, still exists as a beautiful Cotswold's village in north Oxfordshire) the first recorded instances of the name are in and around Aston Clinton, Buckinghamshire, England - before some migration takes place elsewhere in the county. Some of these instances include:
Buckinghamshire
Aston Clinton
* Thomas Kingham born circa. 1520
* Thomas Kingham born 1546
* Agnes Kingham born 1570
* William Kingham born 1571
* Robert Kingham born 1572
Wendover
* Edward Kingham born circa 1579
* William Kingham born 1605
Princes Risborough
* Henry Kingham born 1598
* Robert Kingham born 1608
North Crawley
* William Kingham born 1618
* Edward Kingham born 1644

The name had by the early-mid seventeenth century migrated in to the neighbouring counties of Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire:
Bedfordshire
Henlow
*William Kingham marries Martha Lyne in 1627
Dunstable
*Widow Kingham noted in 1671 Hearth Tax
Cranfield
*William Kingham marries Elizabeth Basterfield in 1655
Harlington
*William Kingham baptised in 1633
Eversholt
*Elizabeth daughter of Henry baptised in 1604
*Henry recorded as a Husbandy in 1612
*Richard recorded as a labourer in 1671
Eaton Bray
*Hugh Bawdrie marries Dorothy Kingham in 1624
Marston
*William recorded as a yeoman in 1681

Hertfordshire
Puttenham
*Elizabeth Kingham baptised 1630
Tring
*Mary Kingham marries 1595
*Thomas Kingome baptised 1572

It is clear, though, that the early distribution of the name is in the eastern past of Bucks; the south west of Bedfordshire and the north west of Hertfordshire, all three areas being adjacent. This concentration continues through until the nineteenth century.
A study of the place names of Buckinghamshire has not thrown up any location where the Kingham name could be derived from and hence it would seem that the Kingham in Oxfordshire is still the most likely source.
The Kingham's were clearly a family of yeoman and farmers. As the line fanned out this inevitably led to younger sons becoming poorer and moving in to labouring.
The other characteristic is that the family is associated with belonging to non-conformist churches.

The Bedfordshire Hearth Tax Return for 1671
The Hearth Tax was imposed in 1662 so that "every dwelling...shall be chargeable for every firehearth and stove the sum of twoe shillings by the yeare." The occupier had to submit a return and this was then checked by an assessor - most usually the local constable.
Exemption was granted to those who were particularly poor and inhabiting houses of less than 20/- annual value.
Three Kinghams were recorded in the return for 1671 ( a reprint is published by the Bedfordshire Historical Records Society.)
~ Richard Kingham, Eversholt, 1 hearth
~ Widow Kingham, Dunstable, 3 hearths
~ William Kingham, Marston Moretain, 2 hearths
 

Buckinghamshire Posse Commitatus 1798
Aylesbury
Francis Kingham: Wheelwright
Cheddington
Jacob Kingham: Farmer
John Kingham: Farmer
Dinton
John Kingham: Farmer
Thomas Kingham: Farmer
Edlesborough
William Kingham: Blacksmith
John Kingham: Farmer
Ilmer
John Kingham: Farmer
W.S. Kingham: Farmer
Marsworth
Daniel Kingham: Labourer
Moreton
John Kingham: Farmer
Thomas Kingham: Farmer
Newport Pagnell
Charles Kingham: Butcher
Princes Risborough
Richard Kingham: Farmer

Kingham Debt of Honour
If you are researching Kinghams who died in the First and Second World Wars this page can search for graves. There are some 60 Kinghams listed.

Contact Details
This page is hosted by Graham Thomas. Please feel free to contact me, ask questions and provide more information that I can publish for the benefit of everybody interested in the Kingham name.
graham thomas

There is a Kingham Forum and List hosted by Rootsweb. To subscribe, e-mail Kingham-L-request@ rootsweb.com and put the word ' subscribe ' in the message box.
For subsequent messages you must drop the -request from the address and e-mail Kingham-L@rootsweb.com
 

  • Early Origins
  • The Bedfordshire Hearth Tax Return 1671
  • Buckinghamshire Posse Commitatus 1798
  • Decendants of Edward Kingham born 1690
  • Complete Kingham records from the Bedfordshire Parish Records
  • Distribution of the Kingham Name
  • John Kingham's murder at Bledlow Ridge, 1893
  • Massacre at Nan Ch'ang 1906
  • Contact and forum
  • Kingham Researchers Contact List

    • Other names that I am researching in the Bedfordshire/Bucks/Hertfordshire area:
    Arch
    Brazier
    Burr
    Cloyton
    Collip/Collup
    Harbott
    Higgs
    Izzard
    Lansbury
    Marston
    Potter