Tudton History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The name Tudton reached English shores for the first time with the ancestors of the Tudton family as they migrated following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Tudton family lived in Dutton, Lancashire. Today Dutton is a civil parish and village within the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester, but this parish dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086 where it was listed as Duntune and literally meant "farmstead at a hill" from the Old English words dun + tun. 1 Dutton is also a civil parish in the Borough of Ribble Valley in Lancashire.

Early Origins of the Tudton family

The surname Tudton was first found in Lancashire where Odard Dutton, nephew of Hugh Lupus was granted the lands of the Barony of Dutton in 1066. He was directly descended from William, Earl of Eu, who married a niece of William the Conqueror. Dutton in Cheshire was an ancient family seat.

"This place, called in Domesday Book Duntune, was the seat of the family of Dutton, who exercised peculiar authority over the musicians and minstrels of the county, under a grant from the Lacys, barons of Walton, requiring them to pay suit and service at a court held before the lord of Dutton, or his deputy, at Chester, every year on Midsummer-day, and to take out a licence for the exercise of their calling." 2

The township of Ness in Chester was at one time of significance to the family. "This place is mentioned in Domesday Survey as being part of the possessions of Walter de Vernon; in the time of Richard II., it was held by the Duttons under the king as Earl of Chester, in capite, by military service." 2 However the family did not hold the lands for long as "on the marriage of the heiress of that family, 7th James I., to the heir of Thomas, Lord Gerard, Ness became the property of the Gerards, of Gerard's Bromley." 2

Again in Cheshire, one branch of the family was found at Appleton with Hull. "The manor, with its hamlets of Hull and Stockton, belonged in the reign of Henry III. to Geffrey Dutton, and subsequently passed, with Budworth, to Sir Peter Warburton, Bart. Bradley, another manor, was given by Geffrey, son of Adam de Dutton, to the ancestor of Thomas Daniers or Daniel, whose daughter and heiress, in the reign of Edward III., brought it by marriage to the Savage family." 2

Early History of the Tudton family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Tudton research. Another 196 words (14 lines of text) covering the years 1191, 1248, 1275, 1332, 1415, 1421, 1459, 1545, 1594, 1624, 1640, 1647 and 1657 are included under the topic Early Tudton History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Tudton Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Dutton, Duton, Duttone and others.

Early Notables of the Tudton family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was Sir Geoffrey Dutton; Sir Thomas Dutton (1421-1459), a medieval English knight who died at the Battle of Blore Heath, Blore Heath, England defending the throne of King Henry VI...
Another 36 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Tudton Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Tudton family to Ireland

Some of the Tudton family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Tudton family

Because of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Tudton name or one of its variants: John Dutton who arrived in America in 1630 and Thomas Dutton who arrived soon after, settling in Reading.

Citations +

Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.