Even the points of the compass
played a part in the selection of surnames during medieval times. SUTTON
came from "south town", a village name, indicating a family so situated
in England. It is from the Anglo-Saxon words, sudh, meaning "south",
and tun, meaning "town". Therefore the name designated "the family of Southtown."
This ancient surname referred
to numerous places including districts, chapelries, parishes, small manors,
and farms. One of the earliest of these places of SUTTON occurred in a
Latin charter dated A. D. 727 in Surrey.
The name of Ketel de Suttune
appeared in the Doomsday Book of Lincolnshire, England in 1086. Alnod Suttune
was recorded the same year in Cambridge. Johannes de Sutton was in York
in 1379.
The families of Sutton and
Dudley, whose histories are inextricably mingled by intermarriage and relationship,
are ancient ones in England, dating before the eleventh century.
In 1251, in the reign of Henry III, Rowland de Sutton married a daughter
of the noted family of Lexington. John de Sutton was Lord of Malpas
and Shocklech in 1329. There is record of many lands being given
to John, son of Richard de Sutton, by Edward III. Isabella de Sutton,
after the death of her husband, Sir John de Sutton, in 1359, married Sir
Richard de Dudley. Upon her death the estates of the combined families
were inherited by her grandson, John Sutton. Among these estates
was the famous Dudley Castle.
Other branches of the family
were held in high esteem by the people of Holderness in the Province of
York, and in Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. The family played a large
part in the history of the British Isles.
The center of the Suttons
in New England was New Jersey in that section then known as East Jersey,
although the descendants of the family have now scattered throughout the
United States.
The first of the Suttons
of whom record can be found was William Sutton who came to Massachusetts
in 1666, but it is believed by many authorities that he was of the second
generation of the family to come to the Colonies. He was a Quaker
and the holder of large tracts of land. His children were Alice,
Thomas, Mary, John, Judah, Richard, Joseph (who died in early youth), Benjamin,
Daniel, and Joseph (second). Many of these children of William Sutton
settled in New Jersey. It is generally supposed that William had
one or more brothers with him when he emigrated to "The New World", but
the family was of such an adventurous disposition that its members seldom
stayed in any one location long enough to be on record. Traces of
the Suttons are to be found in the histories of every frontier in America.
The most favored Christian
names of the early Suttons in America were Joseph, John, Daniel, and Thomas.
The Suttons were a courageous
and adventurous family. They have held high positions both in England
and in America. Their outstanding characteristics were strength of
character, bravery, wisdom, faith in God, and tenacity of purpose.
The heritage of the name of Sutton is in itself an honor and a title. More information and to view the Sutton Coat of Arms. . . . |
