© Peter Massingham 2017
Massingham Family History
Trace your roots
About
Origins
This ancient name can be traced back to the
villages of Great and Little Massingham in North
Norfolk, near the town of King's Lynn. It is well
recorded in the surrounding villages of Field
Dalling, Langham, and in the county town of
Norwich itself, suggesting that the
nameholders, or at least many of them, do
derive from the original 13th century land
owning family. The early recordings include
Adam de Messingham in Lincoln in the Hundred
Rolls of that county for the year 1273, and John
de Messingham in the London Rolls for the same
year. Thomas de Messyngham is recorded in the
Poll Tax Rolls for the city of York in 1379, whilst
amongst the early church recordings is that of
William Massingham who married Ursula Wade
at Fincham, Norfolk, on June 13th 1595.
History
The name is tribal and probably Anglo-Saxon,
and translates as the 'hamm' (place or village)
of the Maessa (Mass) tribe (ing). These people
are also recorded in Lincoln, as 'Massingberd',
the castle (berg) of the Maessa tribe.
Spelling
The first recorded spelling of the family name
is shown to be that of Walter de Massingham,
which was dated 1272, in the Hundred Rolls of
the county of Cambridge, during the reign of
King Edward 1, known as 'The Hammer of the
Scots', 1272-1307. Surnames became necessary
when governments introduced personal
taxation. In England this was known as the Poll
tax.
Other examples of the recordings showing the
surname development are those of William
Messengham, christened at Sharrington, Norfolk,
on July 1st 1691, and Mary Massingham who
married Thomas Wilson at Norwich Cathedral, on
October 14th 1701, in the reign of William of
Orange (1689 - 1702).
Development