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FamilyWareham

Genealogy is more than just tracing a family tree; it is a journey into the past that illuminates the lives and legacies of our ancestors. Through this research, I hope to uncover the stories, struggles, and triumphs that have shaped my family’s history, and in turn, understand more about who I am today.

This project has led me to explore archives, historical records, and personal anecdotes, piecing together the tapestry of my heritage. Each discovery not only connects me to distant relatives but also reveals the cultural and historical contexts that influenced their lives.

As I delve into the annals of my family’s past, I am excited to share some of these findings, preserving our heritage for future generations and fostering a deeper appreciation for the rich and diverse roots from which we all come.

FamilyWareham is dedicated to researching, recording and analysing the Wareham/Warham family name.

Our research has taken us to many interesting places including County archives, Churches, Graveyards, old buildings in the hope of finding some evidence to support our working theories. Who would have known that just one person’s WILL document would lead to connecting two family groups of Warehams, which would never have been connected but for that priceless document.

We have a database of information dating back to 1088 that includes 103,000 records as of 27th March 2025. It has taken 29 years of part time research to reach this point. Each record relates to a person with the name Wareham/Warham. The bulk of information rests between 1538 and the present day.

The reason this site came about is founded in one of my earliest memories; when I was about 7 years old my father told me a family story about our ‘large’ family that lived in Dorset. He knew there were quite a few relatives but it wasn’t until I began my research in 1995, that it eventually became clear just how many relatives there were/are or how far back we might trace the family line.

In 1995 the Internet came within my reach but there was very little to be found. The only benefit in those early days was the ability to make email contact with Warehams around the world. As I began researching, I realised that I was obtaining information about Warehams that, whilst not directly relevant at that time, I thought it may be useful in the future; I therefore decided to build a database in which to store all the information and so this project evolved. The project is still ongoing with much to do. There are no end-game goals as such, other than to see how far can we go.

The first database was created using Lotus Approach^© and this did well until about 2018 when the size of the database became unusable i.e. over 2gb of data. So an upgrade to MS Access Database^© was made and the latest news is that MS Access will be supported till 2029 at least and probably beyond for a while.

A screenshot below shows what a record looks like.

The plan of action was/is to use the database as the core archive from which to create and maintain a ‘library’ of individuals with the name Wareham* to enable the tracking of people within the database and to enable us to find their relative families by means of linking names, dates and locations.

As the information ‘comes in’, it is checked and compared to the information held in the database for the subject name; the information is compared to ensure we do not already have it; if not then it is analysed to confirm the provenance of the source, and that it is genuine, reliable and trusted and if it passes this test, then the new information is added to the record then it is archived to that subjects file.

If the information relates to my direct family, I will then add the new information to our family tree in Legacy10^© database.

Of special interest to us, is any information relating to the Soldiers and Civilians with the name WAREHAM / WARHAM who gave their lives in WW1 and WW2, Boer War, Crimean War and Malaya Emergency. Fifteen of which are related to my family tree. One of which is a relative who was killed in the Boer Wars and whose grave I have just found recently in South Africa (2019).

Also, there is a list of service personnel who served at any time and either survived or served outside wartime; listed on the Warehams who served page.

We are now at the stage of linking Wareham family trees together one person at a time. We have 641 (refined down from 842 with trees merged) family trees and are making great progress in finding common links. As links are found, more trees will either be created and stand alone or will be merged to others.

Now DNA has come a long way, it is helping to break down the brick walls and correct errors with previous family ties. The original project vision/mission of 1995 is finally becoming reality. We have linked Wareham families that ‘you’ would not think were directly related, however the evidence is providing amazing results. I now have 24,079 DNA matches to work through. 11,378 Paternal and 9,483 Maternal.

We have found several examples of how the Warham name has evolved into Wareham, Whareham and others. We have even been provided with photographs and information indirectly from people who have recognised the family name, got in touch and have been so very supportive, and for that we thank them very much.

There are some researchers and others who do not yet believe their family name spelling may be just a derivative of the name Warham and insist they have no links to the Warham lines; in some cases this still maybe true and again, I reiterate, we are not here to prove we are all related are to prove other researchers are wrong! Time will tell where those links are proven to be either true or false.

This method of research to gather, analyse, quality check, recording and storage, is actually proving to work very well indeed.

Please note: This is a closed website; there is no login or accounts for visitors.

Chris Wareham

December 2024

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Note: (*or Warham – the name is mainly interchangeable in the majority of cases and is due to the scripter who made the records.)

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