Welcome
My father and I set up this website to help us to find other Fairholm & Fairholme family members who are interested in researching their family history, and to share information which we have found during our research.
Please have a look around. I hope that you find something interesting.
You can contact me at queries@fairholmfamilytrees.info.
Roger Fairholm
Mission
My name is Roger Fairholm and I live in England. Peter Fairholm, my father, and I had a shared hobby of researching our family history. In particular, we were trying to compile the most complete family trees possible for the Fairholm and Fairholme families - and all known variants - throughout the world - from the start of records up to the present day. Since my father's death in 2020 I have continued with the research, although I do not have as much knowledge about the Scottish side of things as he did.
Although our family numbers are small when compared to other surnames, researching the family tree is still a big task. The public records in England and Scotland do not contain all the information which is helpful or important or interesting. In addition, many family members live in other countries. We continue to look for information which will expand or fill in or link our existing trees together, as well as for stories and photographs to turn the dull facts into real lives. It could take many years to do this thoroughly, but we hoped that it could be speeded up if we were able to work with other people who were also interested.
Many people have already provided us with a lot of useful information and we really appreciate it. Equally, we have been able to provide others with details that they have found helpful. For a list of people and organisations that have helped see the list of contributors under the Analysis link in the menu at the top of the page.
If you would like to know more about the family history than is on this site or if you wonder whether I have that vital missing fact linked to your own research then please email me. I do not offer a research service, but will check the records I have for anything useful or interesting. I may be able to post you a pdf or hard copy print of the relevant part of your family tree.
Broad discoveries
There two main concentrations of Fairholm and Fairholme families in the British Isles in early records: one around Edinburgh in Scotland and the other around Nottingham in England.
Some of the current Fairholm and Fairholme families in England are related.
Some of the current Fairholm and Fairholme families in Scotland are related.
There is no obvious connection yet between the original Scottish and English families.
Outside the British Isles there are Fairholm and Fairholme family members in Canada, the USA, Australia and New Zealand.
The Scottish surname variation of Ferme has extensive family connections in Australia.
News & queries
I am using this item to:
1. highlight the latest information that we find or that is shared with us by other family members and researchers
2. highlight additions and changes to the site
3. raise queries that we hope other people may be able to help us solve - including ones which we receive, but cannot answer.
George William Fairholm - publican (January 2026)
I have added an item about George and his family living in Staffordshire.
James & Annie Fairholm - family photograph (January 2026)
The is now a photograph of James, Annie and all of their children under the Scottish Firth of Forth branch.
Reuben Fairholme - assault at factory (January 2026)
A new item under the English Radford branch.
Timeline - families in Nottinghamshire (January 2026)
There is now a timeline showing where the families lived in Nottinghamshire over time under Analysis.
Occupations in censuses (December 2025)
I have added new analysis of the occupations of family members as they appear in the censuses for England and the New Jersey branches under Analysis.
Causes of death in Radford & the distribution of early surname variants in Nottinghamshire (December 2025)
New entries are included under the English Radford branch and under Analysis.
William Rudrow Fairholm (December 2025)
There is a new story under World Branches USA about this William.
New section of Analysis (November 2025)
I have added a new section to the website covering analysis of the data that I hold. New pages cover first names in the English, Scottish & New Jersey branches, Also, analysis of the counties and states where family members were recorded in the censuses for England and the USA, an analysis of the numbers of birth, marriages & deaths in the English branches and data on the variations in the Scottish surnames. The list of contributors has been moved to this section. The pages are accessible from the Analysis link in the menu at the top of the page.
William Fairholme - buffalo expedition (August 2025)
There is a new story about William's hunting expedition to the Missouri praries in 1840 under the Scottish Edinburgh & Borders branch. I wrote the text for this several years ago, but forgot all about it until recently.
Coal mining family (June 2025)
There is a new story under English Burton Joyce branch.
Stories linked to religion (June 2025)
The Church of England was the main religion of England following the creation of the church in the 1500s, but some members of the branches joined or were born into other Christian religions in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. I have included stories under the English Burton Joyce & Radford Branches, and the World USA branches, which use the involvement of family members in different religions as their starting points.
Reuben & Annie's daughters (May 2025)
I have added a new story to the English Radford branch.
Ffearholme bridge (April 2025)
A search for the bridge in the Quarter Sessions records for 1690, where it had been mentioned as occurring, has proved unsuccessful. I have updated the entry on the Family Name page.
Married cousins and migrations (April 2025)
There are new short entries under the Scottish Firth of Forth Branch about cousins and under the Scottish Edinburgh branch and the Firth of Forth Branch about migration and emmigration.
Changes to the Scottish branches (April 2025)
Whilst looking through my father's old paper print outs of the Scottish family trees I found a sticky note that said he had merged the Edinburghshire & Lanarkshire Branch into the Firth of Forth Branch. At some point there must have been some confusion between us because the website did not show this. As a result, I have now merged the pages for the two branches, renamed the Main Branch the Edinburgh Branch (because it is now no longer the largest branch) and reinstated a page for the Fife Branch (which seems to have gone missing at some point).
QUERY - William Fairholme - the Royal Marine (March 2025)
There is a puzzle about a William Fairholme who was a Royal Marine in the 1860s. I wonder if anyone may be able to help. Please use the following link for more details William - the Royal Marine.
Charles Ferme or Fairholm (March 2025)
There is a new story under Scottish Branches - Overview
Possible English source of the surname (March 2025)
I have added information to the item under Family name.
Refresh of the website (March 2025)
The website has been given a new style. It is almost ten years since the last one.
Henry the trawler man (February 2025)
There is a new story under English Branches - Southwell 2.
Update of early trees (February 2025)
I have updated the early trees for the following English Branches - Basford, Southwell 1 and Southwell 2. They take account of additional people.
Kill the Tsar & Knitting patent (February 2025)
I have added new stories under Scottish Branches - Edinburghshire & Borders - and English Branches Basford. Also, I have updated the story entiled William Fairholm - death & orphans.
The Emily - Amelia Puzzle (January 2025)
I have added a new story to Scottish Branches - Main.
Amy Mona Fairholm (August 2024)
I have added a story about Amy Mona's life under English Branches - Derby.
James Walter Fairholme & Franklin expedition (April 2021)
I have added updates to Scottish Branches - Edinburghshire & Borders about James.
Photograph by AbsolutVision on Unsplash
Privacy & copyright
We are happy for anyone who provides us with personal information about themselves or their immediate family to impose restrictions on the use we may make of the information. This means that we may not be able to pass on all the information we are given to other family members.
We do not pass on contact details for existing contributors to other people who may want to contact them. Instead we will pass the enquirer's details on and leave it to the contributor to decide if they wish to respond.
At the moment we do not intend to submit the information we have gathered to any genealogical index (for example, the Ancestral File of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Genes Reunited) or to the likes of ancestry.com. We require that everyone who receives information from us will agree not to submit the information or let it be submitted to any third party for publication including on the Internet. If we do decide to make the information more widely available in the future then we will adopt the best practice in the genealogical community at the time in relation to the information we supply. However, this will not over-ride any express restrictions laid down by people who provide us with personal information.
The copyright to the content of this site belongs to us or to others as stated. You may not copy information, text, photographs, diagrams, etc without the express approval of the copyright holder.
Image by Tumisu on pixabay.com
Photograph by Gael Gaborel on Unsplash
Image by Photobank Kiev from Unsplash
