This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Pelham.' There are three Pelhams, parishes in Hertfordshire, viz. Pelham Brent, Pelham Furneaux, and Pelham Stocking.

Geoffrey de Pelham, Suffolk, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Walter de Pelham, Cambridgeshire, ibid.

Roger de Pelham, 13 Edward II: Freemen of York.

1791. Married — Thomas Papillon and Anne Pelham: St. George, Hanover Square.

(English) belonging to Pelham (Herts), 13th cent. Pelham [the first element is prob. an Anglo-Saxon pers. name Péola, or Pœlla; the second, Old English hám, home, estate]

(English) One who came from Pelham (Peola’s homestead), in Hertfordshire.

There are, in Hertfordshire, three parishes so denominated; namely, Pelham-Brent, Pelham-Stocking, and Pelham Furneaux. From one of these the noble family originated, "where anciently" says Collins, "was a castle. It also appears that the pelicans, the arms of this family, were painted in the church of Pelham." The De Pelhams were possessed of the estate, in the age immediately succeeding the Norman Conquest, and there are strong probabilities of their having been descendants of one Ralph, who held the lordship in the time of Edward the Confessor.

Local. From the lordship of Pelham, in Hertfordshire, England, either from peele, a tower, castle, or from pool, a small lake, and ham, a village.

Or De Bec, from Bec-Crespin, Normandy (see Jocelyn). This family descended from a brother of Auslec or Oslac, Baron of Briquebec, Amfrid the Dane, c. 940 (see Mitford). Gilbert surnamed Crespin, Baron of Bee and Castellan of Tillieres, had issue William de Bee, who had, 1, Goisfrid de Bee, a great baron in Herts 1086; 2, Gilbert, Abbot of Westminster; 3, Ralph. Ralph de Bec held Pelham and Eldeberie, Herts, from the see of London 1086, other estates Herts from his brother Goisfrid, and in Cambridge estates from Picot de Cambridge (Domesd.). The barony of the latter (Picot) passed to the Peverells, and from them to the De Dovres and Peché.

Ralph had issue, 1, Bobert de Bec or Bech, who witnessed a charter of William Peverel (Mon. i. 247); 2, Alan de Bec, Dapifer to the same baron. Bobert was father of Gilbert (Mon. i. 355), who held lands from Hugh de Dovres in Cambridge, which 1165 belonged to his son Alan, then a minor (Liber Niger). Everard de Bee, his brother, held part of the estate from Hamon Peché and Hugh de Dovres (Ibid.). Ralph de Pelham or De Bec, brother of Gilbert above mentioned, was a tenant of the see of London 1165 (Ibid.), and appears to have been the first of his family to bear the name Pelham. He had, 1, Helias de P.; 2, Walter de P.; 3, Peter de Bec or De P. About 1172 Helias and Walter claimed lands in Cambridge, but resigned them, as appears by a deed of Everard de Bec, then Viscount of Cambridge (Rotuli Curiae Regis). Peter de Bec or Pelham 1194 was party in a suit for lands, Cambridge (Ibid.). He is mentioned in Cambridge 1218 as Peter de Pelham (Hardy, Lit. Claus. 376). The early arms of the Pelhams were a fesse between two chevrons, those of their feudal suzerains, the Pechés of Cambridge. The principal residence of the family was in that county. About 1273 Bobert de Pelham and Geoffry de P. occur in Cambridge (Bot. Hundr.); but the chief of the family was Walter de Pelham, who held from Walter de Bec le Chamberlain, a tenant of Peché, descended from Alan de Bec, Dapifer (Bot. Hundr.). The last-mentioned Walter P. d. 1292. Walter his son acquired lands in Sussex, and from Sir John P., of Sussex, one of the heroes of Poitiers 1356, descended the Pelhams, Lords Pelham, Dukes of Newcastle, and Earls of Chichester.

(English), Peel or Tower home, or Pool home. Pell (prov.), deep standing water.

A location name in Hertfordshire.