Summary information for the Farman's
First recorded facts
The early ancestors of the Farman’s included in this family tree are known to have lived in the Great Yarmouth/Lowestoft region, in the Counties Suffolk and Norfolk, particularly around the village of Haddiscoe and then Fritton. The area they occupied straddles the River Waveney which forms part of the boundary between Suffolk and Norfolk. The adjoining map shows the County boundary and the Administrative Districts, which were often the Registration Districts used for recording life events and census data. These boundaries and the extent of Registration Districts changed over time, thus making the official recorded locations, dependent upon when the event was recorded.
Forebears - a genealogy U.K. portal, reports that the great home of Farman’s and all its varied forms was Norfolk, Suffolk and it extended into Essex. The Forebears site shows that in 1881 there were 152 Farman’s in Norfolk and 146 in Suffolk. Collaborating this, the 1841 England and Wales Census finds numerous Farman’s in the described Yarmouth/Lowestoft region. The earliest identified Farman herein is William Farman, born in about 1791. The 1841 England and Wales Census list him in the Registration District of Loddon & Clavering, Parish of Haddiscoe and he is 50. He is married to Martha (maiden name unknown), born in about 1796 and three children are identified. The oldest child is also named William and he was born in 1814.
William Farman (b.1814) is also recorded in the 1851 England and Wales Census. He, his wife Maria Mallet (b.1819), their children William (b.1841), George (b.1843), Maria (b.1846), James (b.1848) and Martha (b.1850) are recorded as residents of Salmon's Estate, Common Road, Fritton, Suffolk in the 1851 Census data; the birth years are calculated from age at census date. William (b.1814) was from Haddiscoe, Maria from Thurlton and they were married in Haddiscoe in 1841 where William and George were born while Maria, James and Martha were born in Fritton.
The Farman Name
The Internet Surname Data Base suggests that the name derives from the Olde English pre 7th Century 'foeger' meaning 'fair' or 'lovely', plus 'man' and, in more recent times the name has been recorded as Farman, Fairman, Fayerman, Fierman and Fireman. The same source states that the first recorded spelling of the family name is Nicholas Fariman, which was dated 1201 in the Subsidy Rolls of Suffolk, during the reign of King John, 1199-1216. Ancestry Com's interpretation is that the name is either English or French and is derived from an Old Norse personal name, Farmaðr, denoting a seafarer or traveling merchant. Yet another source, An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names finds the name to be of probable German origin, “Fuhr—mann, master of a ferry-boat”. Supporting the German origin are family stories that recall comments which suggested the name came from Germany.
Clearly it is difficult to give a definitive origin of the Farman name. Additionally, given that through time surnames continued to "develop" leading to multiple variants, the original spelling and meaning of Farman has not been determine herein.
The Next Generations
William (b.1814) and Maria Farman’s eldest son, also William (b.1841), married Elizabeth Pettingle from Loddon, Norfolk in 1874 and the 1871 England and Wales Census records that they had seven children. Elizabeth (b.1860) was the eldest, then followed George (b.1863), Thomas (b.1865), Frederick (b.1866), James (b.1867), Maria (b.1869) and Martha (b.1870); the birth years being calculated from age at census date. Elizabeth was born in Toft Monks, Norfolk and all of the children are recorded as being born in Fritton, Suffolk.
Elizabeth is recorded as having died in 1873, the death registered in Mutford District, Suffolk. William remarried in 1874, his second wife being Unah Elizabeth Caroline Dawes from Walsingham, Norfolk. According to the 1881 England and Wales Census there were three children born to William and Unah; Edith Farman (b.1876), William Farman (b.1878) and Blanche (b.1880); the birth years are calculated from age at census date. The three children are recorded as being born in Fritton, Suffolk.
William (b.1840) and Elizabeth’s fourth born James (b.1866) married Mary Anne Esther Bloomfield (b.1867) in 1894 and the 1911 England and Wales Census shows that they had 4 children; Henry James - known as Harry (b.1899), Annie Elizabeth (b.1898), William George (b.1902) and Jack Bloomfield (b.1903). Henry, Annie and George are recorded as being born in the District of Kessingland (about 5kms south of Lowestoft) in Suffolk and, Jack’s birth place is recorded as being in the District of Mellis (about 35kms SE of Lowestoft) in Suffolk. Given that James was a policeman, variations to where his children were born may be the result of his posting locations.
Sometime after the 1911 census James, Mary Anne and the four children moved to Blundeston where they occupied the “police house” in Hall Lane. Blundeston is the town that is recalled in most of the stories that Harry (b.1899) recounted to his daughters about his early life in England. At the outbreak of World War I, Henry enlisted with the Norfolk Regiment and saw service in France where he was wounded.
Australia Bound
Upon returning to England, Henry remained in service until discharged in November 1919. In 1921 Henry migrated to Australia and in 1926 married Eva Lillian Hill in Ashfield, Sydney, NSW. Tragically Eva died in childbirth at the Western Suburbs Hospital, Croydon, NSW, in Marh 1927; the child, believed to be a boy, did not survive.
In 1927 Henry’s brother Jack came to Australia to find an almost broken and dispirited man. Henry took time to recover, but he did, and almost 10 years later in 1936 he married Mona Imelda McArdle in Drummoyne, NSW. Two years later, in 1938, Jack married Mary Frances McArdle (Mona's sister), again in Drummoyne. Jack and Mary never had any children but they were devoted uncle and aunt to Henry and Mona’s daughters, Marilyn and Helen, who married and they, their husbands, children and grandchildren continue to live in Australia.
Other Farman's
There are of course many other Farman's, their partners and children recorded in this family tree; access to their details is via the Name Index and Pedigree pages of this site. William Farman (b.1814) and his wife Maria (b.1817), their children and descendants are not the only Farman's who appear in various English records for the Suffolk and Norfolk area during the period investigated. Other Farman’s in the area may have some connection to them, especially those located within the Great Yarmouth/Lowestoft region. Hopefully, as new source material becomes available, additional Farman’s records can be added to this Family Tree.
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