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