Elam, of course, if an old biblical name. Elam was the son of Shem and grandson of Noah. The nation of Elam, as you will see if you reference Old Testament maps found in the backs of many Bible's, existed roughly where the nation of Iraq is today. I have a single sheet which references everytime the nation of Elam or its inhabitants, the Elamites, are mentioned. The Elamites are even mentioned in the New Testament as one of the groups of people at Pentecost who miraculously heard the disciples teaching in their own languages. The Elamites at Petecost living in Jurusalem were apparently Jews, but I suspect that most Elamites and there descendants were not. Whether Samuel Elam was a Jew, I do not know, but I would be surprised. The best evidence I've seen suggests he would more likely be a Quaker. I would enjoy seeing any evidence to the contrary. But the point of all this is that the name Elam goes back much further than England. Mark Elam