Benjamin Burnham was born on 29 April 1722, in Ipswich, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America as the son of Joseph Burnam Sr and Judith Perkins.
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English: habitational name from any of several places called Burnham. Those in Buckinghamshire (Burnham Beeches), Norfolk (various villages), and Essex (Burnham-on-Crouch) are named with Old English burna ‘stream’ + hām ‘homestead’. In the case of Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset, however, the second element is Old English hamm ‘water meadow’, while Burnham in Lincolnshire is named from brunnum, dative plural of Old Norse brunnr ‘spring’, originally used after a preposition, i.e. ‘(at) the springs’.
History: In 1635 Robert Burnham and his two brothers came from England to Ipswich, MA, after their ship was wrecked on the coast of Maine. In the mid 18th century John Burnham and his son, also called John, were among the early settlers in what became the state of VT. In 1785, the younger John Burnham established himself at Middletown, CT.
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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