Origin and Meaning of the name Abram
Abram or Abraham comes from the biblical first name, Abraham which in Hebrew means "Father of the multitude".
The Abram, family I am interested in were boatmen on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal in Lancashire, England. Martha Abram was my ggg granfather, Edward Stopforth's second wife. Edward's son, Thomas Stopforth also married an Abram girl: Margaret Abram.
We know absolutely nothing about the Abrams, apart from the fact that they were boat people on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. My aim would be to find out as much as possible about the family. Who Martha's parents were and if she had brothers and sisters and most importantly what the relationship was between Martha and Margaret Abram, who both married Stopforths.
Martha Abram (1831-1906)
Martha was the second wife of Edward Stopforth, my ggg grandfather. They lived in the village of Newburgh, Lancashire and were of two Leeds & Liverpool Canal Boat Families. They married at St Nicholas Church, Chapel St. Liverpool on 10th October 1877. (This is the church where many boatmen and women married, while their boats were loading or unloading at Liverpool docks).
On marrying Edward, Martha took on the responsibility of rearing his (at least) five children from his previous marriage. She would have been 43 years old when she married him and the children would have been:
Margery 14 - my gg grandmotherThere may also have been an older boy also called Edward who would have been 15 in 1877.
Margaret Abram m. 1895
Thomas Stopforth, Martha's step-son, also married a Margaret Abram in 1895
On 1881 Census
The Abrams were clearly related to the Stopforths and the Heskeths and on the 1881 census we find an Abram who is the aunt of these Heskeths, living almost next door to the Stopforths:
Dwelling: Newburgh
Census Place: Lathom, Lancashire, England
Source: FHL Film 1341899 PRO Ref RG11 Piece 3756 Folio 58 Page
5
Marr Age Sex Birthplace
Martha HESKETH U 18 F Newburgh, Lancashire, England
Rel: Head
Margaret HESKETH 9 F Newburgh, Lancashire, England
Rel: Sister
Occ: Scholar
Robert HESKETH 7 M Newburgh, Lancashire, England
Rel: Brother
Occ: Scholar
Elizabeth HESKETH 5 F Newburgh, Lancashire, England
Rel: Sister
Occ: Scholar
Margery ABRAM U 50 F Newburgh, Lancashire, England
Rel: Aunt
Occ: Dressmaker
Abram Marriages
According to Robert Cheetham Houghton's book "Burscough Boatmen, their Marriages & their Boats":
Elizabeth Abram married Thomas Varley in 1883
Ellen Abram married Arthur Gore in 1883
Catherine Abram married Henry Parr in 1884
William Abram married Mary Gibbons in 1890
Richard Abram married Alice Watkinson in 1902
Richard Abram married Jane Elizabeth Barrow in 1925
Click above to view my Abram Family Group Sheets
Abram Surname Noticeboard at Rootsweb.com
If you have or know of a website dedicated to the Abram Surname, please let me know so that I can include a link on this page.