This name is of English Locational origin from a place in Lincolnshire called Bassingham. Recorded as Basingeham in the Domesday Book of 1086, and as Basingham in the 1202 Assize Court Rolls of that county, the first element is the Old English pre 7th Century personal name Basa, plus "ing", people of, and "ham", a village or homestead; hence, "the homestead of Basca's people". The surname from this source was first recorded in the latter part of the 17th Century, (see below). Locational names were originally given to the Lord of the Manor, or as a means of identification to those who left their place of birth to seek work elsewhere. On February 5th 1577, the birth of one, John Bassingham was recorded in Spalding, Lincolnshire. Stephen Bosingham and Mary Smith were married in Harbledown, Kent, on February 6th 1608. The marriage of Jone Bossingham and Henry Holland took place in Fosdyke, Lincolnshire, on November 6th 1617, and May 30th 1641, Sara Bossingham married a Thomas Hogbin in Faversham, Kent. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Rogerus Bassingham, (christening), which was dated February 22nd 1569, St. Andrew's, Norwich, Norfolk, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, "Good Queen Bess", 1558 - 1603. 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.