I went to The Geneologists Fair a couple of years ago and they printed me off some info. It is believed that the name originates from the village of Elham in Kent, between Ashford and Canterbury. Then it seems to travel up north in various spelling to the medieval times and then pops up in Cheshire from whence most families of the name seem to originate now. My father's family came from Ince on the Wirral, my grandfather's name was William and he was Signalman at Helsby station for most of his life. Also no-one has mentioned the Book of Ellams, which has many of us listed in it. I would be interested to hear from anyone who may be related to this strand of the family. One of granddad's sisters married into a family called Littler who had a farm between Thornton Le Moors and Helsby.
Barbara Ellams