Many of the Dutton lines you see on the web and elsewhere, including mine, are based on a book by Gilbert Cope, "Genealogy of the Duttons of Pennsylvania" which contains an excerpt from Peter Leycester's "Leycester's Historical Antiquities" Peter was married to a daughter of Muriel Dutton, the last of the Dutton line that were lords of Dutton and was also descended from the Duttons himself. Gilbert felt that Leycester's work was pretty accurate. If you would like to see a copy of it, go to my web site: http://www.netcom.com/~curtrowe. Then go to the Dutton page and you'll find the link near the top. There is also a chart in the possession of Doug Hall that lists Leycester's work and others. Good Luck in your search Curt Rowe > -----Original Message----- > From: Richardson [mailto:richardson-decatur-al@worldnet.att.net] > Sent: Sunday, July 12, 1998 8:15 PM > To: DUTTON-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: [DUTTON-L] The Old Duttons, and the Meaning of Life > > > List gang, > > Don't shoot! I'm a novice! > > Lately I've gotten involved in the amusing, though arduous (usually > pointless) process of sorting through family files on various public > presentations (i.e. Ancestry and WFT) trying to piece together some sense > of a puzzling family tree of "the Old Duttons"--the ones that started it > all. Knowing very little about history (especially Dutton history), I was > wondering about where it all began--and I was trying to connect my Dutton > into "the big picture". All I managed to get out was some kind of > multi-colored mish-mash ranging from about A.D. 500 to the present--with > various branches in great detail and nothing at all on just about all the > others. Now left with more questions than before, and fewer answers than > ever, I thought I would come here to ask them, hoping someone a > little more > experienced with the Duttons might be able to help out. > > To begin with, I descend from the Duttons of Charles County, Maryland. My > relatives and I have posted several times before, but we've never managed > to get very far with them. Our emigrant ancestor is Thomas > DUTTON, born ca. > 1660-70, presumably in England. He probably immigrated to > Maryland in 1680, > and married Elizabeth HILL (dau. of Matthew HILL and Edith BEANE). > > 1. Too many Thomases... > Looking at the various family files I've collected, it seems that just > about EVERYONE in the Duttons of England was named Thomas. I was wondering > where in the line the name originated. Even in the families of my Duttons, > in rural Alabama, the name Thomas is still very prevalent. It's because of > this that I am quite certain that my Thomas Dutton hailed from England. > > 2. So he came from England... > In America, we have immigrant lists, right? That tells us when and where a > person arrived in the New World. Basically, it tells us where they went. > But...how do you go about tracking down where they came from? I wouldn't > know even how to begin searching for the ancestry of Thomas Dutton of > Charles County, Maryland. In compiling the various family files that I > have, I was hoping to find that someone had already done it for me, but no > such luck. > > 3. England records > Around here, we have the census, we have tax records, birth records, death > records, marriage records, wills, and so on. In the past two centuries, > record-keeping has become very much more widespread and complete. But what > about before then? I have never tried to research in the Old World before, > and I have no idea of how to go about it. What kind of records > are available? > > 4. Survival of the fittest? > Also, in examining the various files in my "collection", I have noticed > that starting about 3 or 4 hundred years ago, everyone is descended from > the same set of ancestors. One would at first think that the "originators" > of the Dutton race would have spread out infinitely over the > ages, and that > it would be just as hard to find someone who was "directly" kin to you as > it is today. But as I look deeper, I see Darwin's theory in action. From > the first generation of "original" ancestors, each child would go and > procreate, as would each of their children, and so on--but over the many > years, many of the lines, rather than continuing to expand, would > eventually extinct themselves, leaving only "the fittest" of the species > and their descendants to continue procreating--such names as Hugh > de Dutton > and Muriel le Despencer come to mind. It is apparent that all of the > Duttons living today would be descended from the common "originator" > (Odard?), but is it possible that they are all also descended from someone > several generations down the line, all the other lines having extincted > themselves? > > 5. Who is the origin? > I once saw in Burke's Armoury that the founder of the Dutton ranks in > Dutton, Cheshire, England was Odard, Lord of Dutton. Is this the father of > the English Dutton clan? Does the surname of Dutton immediately imply a > connection to this ancient warlord? I have often wondered if some families > acquired the surname of Dutton simply by living in that area, i.e. Bob of > Dutton (originally of London) over the generations becomes Bob Dutton. Is > this possible? Or can I safely assume that my Duttons do descend from that > lord of old, Odard, and his descendants? > > 6. Can somebody help me? > Having no idea what Duttons were living, or had ever lived, in England at > the time of Thomas Dutton of Maryland's birth, I have no idea where to > start in a quest to find his ancestors. Could anyone with some experience > push this novice in the right direction? > > Just for the record, here is a brief summary of the hodge-podge of records > that I managed to acquire regarding the Duttons of England. (in order by > generation from newest to oldest) This is probably complete nonsense--I > have started with the last name that I saw in more than one file... > > John Dutton; md. Margaret Savage > Sir Piers de Dutton; md. Elizabeth Butler > Edmund de Dutton; md. Joan Minshall > Sir Thomas de Dutton; md. Joan Thornton > Hugh de Dutton; md. Joan de Holland > Hugh de Dutton; md. Muriel Le Despencer > Hugh de Dutton; md. Isabell de Massey > Hugh de Dutton; md. Alice Prescott > Hugh Fitzodard; md. Alice Pichard > Odard, Lord of Dutton; md. Alice > Ivo, Viscount of Cotentin; md. Emme, Countess of Bretange > Niel de St. Saveur II, Viscount of Cotentin > Roger de St. Saveur, Viscount of Cotentin > Niel de St. Saveur I, Viscount of Cotentin > Richard de St. Saveur, Viscount of Cotentin > Mahahulc (Halduc de Tresley) > Eistein, Earl of More; md. Aseda of Jutland > Ivar, Jarl of Uplanders; md. ??? of Throndheim > Halfdane the Old > King Sveide (Norse King); md. Alfhild Gandolfsdottier > Randver > > Here, I start having visions of Beowulf--quite an interesting history. Is > everybody laughing at me? Hey, don't ask how I've come to this conclusion; > I really don't know. I just kept cutting and pasting and exporting and > importing. This is the final product of several hours worth of > wasted time. > Okay, okay, I'll be quiet... > > :) > > Thanks for noticing me, > Joseph T. Richardson > >