Tufton History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Etymology of Tufton

What does the name Tufton mean?

The name Tufton reached England in the great wave of migration following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Tufton family lived in Hampshire at Tufton, a parish, in the union of Whitchurch, hundred of Wherwell, Kingsclere and N. divisions of the county of Southampton. This place is also known as Tuckington. 1 2

One source notes the place name was derived from the Old English words "toft," meaning "cluster of trees or bushes," and "tun," meaning "enclosure or settlement."

Another source notes the settlement dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086, when it was known as Tochiton. In this case, the place name means "estate associated with a man called Toca or Tucca." 3

Early Origins of the Tufton family

The surname Tufton was first found in Sussex, where the family hailed from "Tufton, a manor in the parish of Northiam, [and] is deduced the name of the ancient family of the Earls of Thanet." 4 The name was originally De Toketon and the first of the name is recorded as Elphgege de Toketon about the year 1160. Sir Lewis de Tufton was a Commander of the Army at Cresci.

"It is asserted by several genealogists, that Toketon or Tufton, the locality from which the name was borrowed, is at Rainham in Kent. Rainham was certainly the residence of the family after they forsook their Sussex abode; but the mistake seems to have arisen from the existence of a field of sixteen acres called Tufton's in that parish." 4

"The church [of Hothfield, Kent] is an ancient edifice, containing some old and costly monuments to the Tufton family." 1

Early History of the Tufton family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Tufton research. Another 162 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1578, 1584, 1608, 1622, 1626, 1628, 1631, 1638, 1640, 1644, 1648, 1659, 1664, 1679, 1680, 1684, 1688, 1729, 1753, 1849 and 1900 are included under the topic Early Tufton History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Tufton 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 Tufton, Toughton, Tuffton, Tofton and others.

Early Notables of the Tufton family

Nicholas Tufton, 1st Earl of Thanet (1578-1631) was an English peer who owned Bodiam Castle
Sir Humfrey Tufton, 1st Baronet (1584-1659), an English politician, Member of Parliament for Maidstone (1640-1648)
John Tufton, 2nd Earl of Thanet (1608-1664), an English nobleman and supporter of Charles I of England
Nicholas Tufton, 3rd Earl of Thanet (1631-1679), styled Lord Tufton until 1664, an English nobleman, High Sheriff of Westmorland
John Tufton, 4th Earl of Thanet (1638-1680), styled The Honourable John Tufton until 1679, was an English politician and nobleman
Richard Tufton, 5th Earl of Thanet (1640-1684), styled The Honourable Richard Tufton until 1680, an English nobleman
Thomas Tufton, 6th Earl of Thanet, 18th Baron de Clifford PC (1644-1729), an English nobleman and politician
Sackville Tufton, 7th Earl of Thanet (1688-1753), known as Sackville Tufton until 1729, a British nobleman and politician

Tufton migration to the United States +

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 Tufton name or one of its variants:

Tufton Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Ann Tufton, who landed in New England in 1635 5
John Tufton, who arrived in New England in 1635 5
Robert Tufton, who arrived in New England in 1635 5
Richard Tufton, who landed in Virginia in 1652 5
Symon Tufton, who landed in North America in 1659

Contemporary Notables of the name Tufton (post 1700) +

Anthony Charles Sackville Tufton (b. 1939), 6th Baron Hothfield of Appleby Castle, English peer
George William Anthony Tufton (1904-1991), 5th Baron Hothfield of Appleby Castle, English peer
Thomas Sackville Tufton (1916-1986), 4th Baron Hothfield of Appleby Castle, English peer
Henry Hastings Sackville Thanet Tufton (1897-1961), 3rd Baron Hothfield of Appleby Castle, English peer
John Sackville Richard Tufton (1873-1952), 2nd Baron Hothfield of Appleby Castle, English peer
Sir Richard Tufton (1813-1871), 1st Baronet of Appleby, he inherited Skipton Castle in Yorkshire and Hothfield Place, Ashford, Kent upon the death of his natural father Henry Tufton, 11th Earl of Thanet in 1849
Henry James Tufton (1844-1926), 1st Baron Hothfield of Appleby Castle, English peer
Captain Tufton Victor Hamilton Beamish MC (1917-1989), Baron Chelwood, British Army officer and Member of Parliament
Rear Admiral Tufton Percy Hamilton Beamish (1874-1951), English naval officer and politician

The Tufton Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Ales volat propriis
Motto Translation: The bird flies to its kind.

Sources +

Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Barber, Henry, British Family Names London: Elliot Stock, 62 Paternoster Row, 1894. Print.
Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)