Recorded as Marcham, Marcam, Marcome, Marcombe, Marsham, and possibly others, this is an English locational surname. It originates from either Marcham, a place near Abingdon in Oxon or Oxfordshire, or Markham in Nottinghamshire, or possibly a now 'lost' medieval village perhaps called 'Mar-cum' or similar, meaning the 'boundary marker in the valley,' a reference to a parish boundary marker. The village of Marcham is first recorded as early as 835 a.d. making it one of the first of all such recordings. At that time it was Mercham, the translation being the farm where merce was grown, the latter being flax or reed. Markham in Nottinghamshire, known as Markham Clinton after the family who were the original lords of the manor, appears as 'Marcham' in the famous Domesday Book of 1086. It has the same meaning as Markham Clinton, being that of the farm by the boundary marker. These were usually a prominent post or stone, or sometimes a major tree. It is known that ove three thousand surnames of the British Isles do originate from 'lost' medieval villages, so whist still and unusual situation, it is by no means unique. The first known recording is probably that of Robert de Marcham of Nottingham, in the Hundred Rolls of 1273.

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