Ruddiforth History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• Scotland/England
• Scotland
• Ireland
• England

Etymology of Ruddiforth

Behind the name Ruddiforth is a story that begins in the ancient Scottish-English border region among the clans of the Boernician tribe. The Ruddiforth family lived in the Parish of Maxton, where Rutherford was a town, near Roxburghshire. The toponym Rutherford is derived from the Old English words hryder meaning cattle and ford, a shallow part of a river.

Ruddiforth Coat of Arms Creation

The Rutherfords were a very important Border family, and as a crest they had a martlet (a swallow) with the motto, "Nec sorte nec fato" (Neither by chance nor fate).

In their arms they had three martlets to show that some of the heads of the family had been in the Crusades, because just as swallows were birds of passage so were Crusaders. When in arms these birds are shown wanting beaks and feet, it means that those having such were maimed and wounded in these wars. The martlet, when shown by younger sons of a family, meant that they had to trust to the wings of virtue and merit, as they had no land of their own to set their feet on.

There are two traditions as to the origin of the name. The first is that a man who guided Ruther, a King of the Scots, across the Tweed at a certain place to England was afterwards called Rutherford. Another story is that the English once tried to cross this river, but were set upon by the Scots, and it was for them a case of " rue-the-ford," which name was given to the place and its owner, and so it came about that there was a " Rutherford of that Ilk." 1

Early Origins of the Ruddiforth family

Early History of the Ruddiforth family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Ruddiforth research. Another 284 words (20 lines of text) covering the years 1165, 1200, 1215, 1249, 1285, 1296, 1361, 1411, 1413, 1448, 1451, 1493, 1506, 1552, 1577, 1580, 1582, 1600, 1661, 1664, 1695, 1779 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Ruddiforth History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ruddiforth Spelling Variations

Before the printing press and the first dictionaries appeared, names and other words were often spelled differently every time they were written. Ruddiforth has appeared under the variations Rudfard, Ruterford, Rudforde, Rudfithy, Rudforthy, Rudforthe, Rudfith, Rudforth, Rudfearde, Rudfarte, Rudfarde, Rudferd, Rutherfard, Rudfart, Rutherfart, Ruddefork, Ruddeforde, Ruddeford, Ruddefithy and many more.

Early Notables of the Ruddiforth family

Samuel Rutherford (1600-1661), Scottish principal of St. Mary's College, St. Andrews, born about 1600 in the parish of Nisbet, now part of Crailing, Roxburghshire. 3 Andrew Rutherford (d. 1664), was a Scottish soldier of fortune, created 1st and only Earl of Teviot by Charles II; and Samuel Rutherford (ca. 1600-1661), a Scottish theologian and controversialist, born at Nisbet, Roxburghshire, educated at Edinburgh University, where he became a Professor of Latin. John Rutherford (died 1577) was a...
Another 73 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Ruddiforth Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Ruddiforth family to Ireland

Some of the Ruddiforth family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 60 words (4 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.