The name Hanham was brought to England by the Normans when they conquered the country in 1066. The ancestors of the Hanham family lived in Hanham, Gloucestershire. Ancient records reveal the name Hanham is derived from the Old English roots han, which means rock, and ham, which means village or settlement.

Some of first members of the Hanham family to immigrate North America were:

• Thomas Hanham who settled in Virginia in 1608; twelve years before the "Mayflower"
• another Thomas settled in Virginia in 1773
• John Hanham arrived in San Francisco, Cal. in 1850
• James Hanham settled in Hants Harbour, Newfoundland in 1829

Tilley is one of the thousands of new names that the Norman Conquest brought to England in 1066. The Tilley surname was a habitation name, taken from any of several place names in Northern France called Tilly.  The ancestors of the Tilley family first settled in Mersewood, Dorset and where Henry Tilley from Tilley near Caen in Calvados acquired the confiscated estates of Geoffrey de Mandevill in 1083

Some of first members of the Tilley family to immigrate North America were:

• Robert Tilley settled in Bird Island Cove about 1853
• William Tilley settled in Bona Vista Newfoundland in 1665
• Thomas Tilley was married in St. John's Newfoundland in 1784