OK, my mother's maiden name was ROUSHAM, very uncommon, and when she died 2 years ago I decided to pursue the family tree. This turned into a single-name worldwide study ! I am prepared to let you have a copy of what I have found if you would let me have a "normal" email address to send it to (half a dozen very large PDF files). Back to the point, the further back in time I went, the more the name changed, firstly from Rousham to Rowsham and then to Rowsam. I have been aware of a few Rowsams in Ireland (Dublin, Wicklow, more in Wexford, etc) for some time. Only recently did it twig that Rowsom was yet another variant I ought to be pursuing. That too opens up a whole new ballgame as, unlike the Rousham/Rowsham name, there are thousands of the blighters - many of them from "up north" as you point out. The question is, though, who was derived from whom ? Although Rowsom (with or without an "e") is common nowadays, their records dont go back so far.
As for Ireland, there have been various periods of "settlement" in Ireland since the vikings, but like you I also have come to the conclusion that the "plantations" of 1610 are the most likely period when Rowsam came from England to Ireland. My early Gloucestershire Rowsams and Warwickshire Rowsams were farmers, so this is likely. Also there is a tantalising religious thread running through all this - the early Rowsams were thought by many to be Quakers, and that keeps popping up at regular intervals in correspondence with other researchers. Does it ring any bells with you too ?.
Please keep in touch
Adrian Wilkins
