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ORIGIN OF THE NAME: DUDLEY
The Why and How Surnames began to be Used; Before 1066 A. D., surnames were not used by everyone, in fact it was usually only the very rich who used a surname, and that was rare also. But, at around this time surnames began to be used by the ordinary people as well. As the populations of the different countries of the known world began to grow, and people started traveling and moving more. It became necessary to have a better way of identifying a person. For example, in a small village, everyone knew a man named John, who was the bakers son. Because everyone knew him as John, the bakers son, it was easy to distiguish this John, from John, the blacksmith son. But, when John moved to a larger city, there was no way of knowing this John, from the other Johns who may of lived in the larger city as well. It was a tax collectors nightmare. Something had to be done to tell who was who. So everyone began using surnames, and after awhile, and as the populations of the cities and counties increased, there was a need for people to have middle names as well, which worked for some time until just a few decades ago. Now we have to have numbers to go with our names to be able to tell who's who. It began to be difficult to tell Mike Lewis Smith, from Mike Lewis Smith. That's when the business and the government started making us use our Social Security Numbers with our names, whenever we fill out a credit card form, or do our taxes. To tell which Mike L. Smith owed the taxes, and which Mike L. Smith bought the house. Who knows as the world gets more populated, what means we will have to identify who we are. The Anglo-Saxons among others, distinguished between two people with the same name by adding either the place they came from or the job they did to their first name. Modern surnames such as Baxter, Baker, Weaver, Fisher, Fowler, Hunter, and Farmer are all Anglo-Saxon in origin. The Vikings had a different way of distinguishing between people of the same name. They added the name of the person's father or mother to the child's name. As an example, Harald, the son of Erik would be known as Harald Erik's son, or as we would say it today, Harald Erikson. Often Viking families alternated the name of the eldest so that Arn Gunnarsson might be the father and son of Gunnar Arnsson, and the grandfather and grandson of Arn Gunnarson. The Dudley name has been in use as a place name and for a surname for several hundred years. It has been the name for some of Englands' and the worlds' most famous and infamous citizens and places. Including a young girl who became Queen of England for only nine short days, Lady Jane Grey Dudley, that in itself is another story and you will find it on Famous Dudley's page. The Dudley name is a proud and noble name, and thousands of people around the world, including myself are Dudley's, and there are a lot of places in the world with the Dudley name. So, how did the name Dudley come about? Well, there isn't that much information that I could find on the origin of the name Dudley. What I did find, pretty much said the same thing, which was this; The origin of the name came from an Anglo-Saxon named Dudo. It appears Dudo, came to the area we now know as Dudley, around A. D. 700, and started building a castle out of wood. When he was finished with the construction of the castle, he named the castle Dudo's Castle. Yes, the beginning of Dudley Castle. The land around Dudo's Castle became known as Dudo's Land. As time went on and the English language changed, it came to be known as Dudda's Leah or Dudda's Land, Leah meaning a clearing in wooded land, Dudda meaning owned or lived on by Dudda. Eventually, as time passed and the English language and pronouciations changed, so did the pronoucment of Dudda's Leah to simply Dudley, the name we know today. Now how did we get Dudley as our surname? Well, read the story on the right, and this should help you find out how we became known as Dudley's.
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WHY WE USE DUDLEY So, do some research and find out if you are a descendant of John de Sutton, or Richard de Dudley ALL the founding Dudley's were nobles, (Barons). And this is where we begin our story. John de Sutton was given some land by the king, as a reward for John's services to the king. The land given to John was was known as Dudda Leah or Duddas Land, later changed to Dudley as we all know, from reading the story on the left. When John took processions of this land, he became known as Sir John de Sutton, Lord Dudley. The Sir because he was a Knight, in the Order of the Garter. de Sutton to designate his origins, (remember the story above?) John was from a place called South Town, in Old English, it was called de Sutton, Sut for the word South, Ton, for the word Town. Now de is a Spanish word, meaning of, so we have John de Sutton, or John of South Town. Now John was called Lord Dudley, because he was the Baron over the land of Dudley. Now as a noblemen's social standings goes, a Baron was called a Lord. Just as a knight had Sir at the beginning of their name, a Baron would have Lord at the beginning of his name. Now since John was owner and master of the land called Dudley, his title was Sir John de Sutton, Lord Dudley, Baron of Dudley. Now, here is where it gets confusing. John Sutton married Isabel de Charlton and had several children. When John died in 1359, Johns and Isabel's children stayed on the land, and at the time kept the Sutton name until around 1420, when they started using de Dudley as their last name. Later they drop the de off and started using just plain Dudley, as their last name, doing away with the Sutton name altogether. Now, these Dudley's kept the lands and Dudley Castle, and where called Lords of Dudley or Barons of Dudley, and are known in the Dudley family history, as the Second House Dudleys. Okay, what do I mean by the second house? You'll have to pay close attention now, as I try and explain this Second House. Shortly after Sir John de Sutton (Dudley),"Lord Dudley died in 1359, (Grandfather Dudley?) Isabel de Sutton (Dudley) remarried to Richard de Dudley (Grandfather Dudley?) and moved to live with her new husband, Richard Dudley in 1361, and had several children with Richard. These children of Isabels and Richard, immediately assumed as their last name, Dudley. These children became known as the First House, simply because they took Dudley as their last name first. Remember, John and Isabel's children didn't start using Dudley as their last name until 1420. Some 38 to 39 years after the children of Isabel and Richard's children became known as Dudleys. So, we have John and Isabels children as the Second House Dudley, and Isabel and Richards children as the First House Dudley. Now, all Dudley's, with Euro-English or Euro-American ancestors, come from these two Houses of Dudley. They had two different Fathers, John and Richard, but had the same Mother, Isabel. Which I guess you can say, all Dudley's are related, being we had the same Grandmother, Isabel. This is how the Dudley family began, and we are now world-wide, with Dudleys living in almost every country in the world. Well, one thing about it anyway, if you are still un-clear as to how we became Dudley's, at least one thing you have learned, if you are a Dudley and a descendant of John de Sutton, or Richard de Dudley, you have found out who your Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandmother was, Isabel (de Charlton) Dudley. Now, which Grandfather or line do you or I come from? Is your Grandfather John de Sutton, or Richard de Dudley? Well that, you'll have to find out on your own, by a lot of researching and looking up your ancestors. Good Hunting, and thanks |
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