Studholme - Name

This interesting surname is one of English locational origin from one of the estimated seven to ten thousand villages and hamlets that have now disappeared from the maps in Britain. The prime cause of these "disappearances" was the enforced "clearing" and dispersal of the former inhabitants to make way for sheep pastures at the height of the wool trade in the 14th Century. Natural causes such as the Black Death of 1348 also contributed to the lost village phenomenon. The component elements are the old English pre 7th Century "stod" meaning "horse" plus "holm", a piece of dry land in a fen or surrounded by streams, hence "a piece of land where horses were bred". In modern forms "holm" is sometimes exchanged for "ham", therefore it is possible that it is a locational name from Studham in Bedfordshire, deriving from the old English pre 7th Century "Stod-ham", "an enclosure or homestead where horses were bred". William Studholme was christened on October 31st 1695 at St. Anne Soho, London. John Studholme married Elizabeth Chamberlain on December 16th 1702 at St. Dunstan, Stepney, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Eliakim Studholme married Elizabeth Cosens, which was dated 1689, St. Marylebone, St. Mary Street, Marylebone Rd., London, during the reign of King William 11, "William of Orange and England", 1689 - 1702. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.