Sutton
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Sutton Surname Genealogy
Sutton is derived from the place-name Sutton, meaning "south town," which was fairly widespread in England. It first appeared as a surname - as Sudtone and as Suttuna - in the Domesday Book of 1086.
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Sutton Ancestry
England. Sutton place-names brought about some early Sutton surnames, in Yorkshire, Essex, and Nottinghamshire:
Thomas Sutton was one of the chief moneylenders of Elizabethan England, securing loans worth for as little as a few shillings or for as much as thousands of pounds to everyone from farmers to some of the most prominent courtiers, businesspeople, and politicians of his era:
Later lines of these Suttons have included: Robert Sutton, a Royalist at the time of the Civil War; Sir Robert Sutton the diplomat (famed in horseracing circles for having brought to England the original Arabian grey from which all thoroughbred greys are descended); and indirectly, through his maternal grandfather, Charles Manners Sutton who was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 1805.
These Suttons tended to be Nottinghamshire based. But the main geographic locations of Suttons by the 19th century were:
Nicholas Sutton of this family visited Spain in 1579. An account of his journey has been preserved in manuscript form at the British Museum. The Sutton Clonard branch, beginning with Thomas Sutton in the 15th century, commanded a large merchant fleet in the late 17th century. However, they were James II supporters in 1689 and, after his defeat, took their fleet to Spain. Later Michael Sutton became Don Miguel Sutton and was ennobled as Conde de Clonard.
Suttons remained in Wexford. George Sutton came to Newfoundland in the 1790's and later settled to farm in New Brunswick. A number of Suttons from Wexford emigrated to Canada and Australia in the 19th century.
America. John Sutton came to Massachusetts from Lincolnshire in 1638 and settled in Hingham. His son Joseph moved to Westchester county, New York and then to Long Island.
But the first Sutton recorded in America is thought to have been George Sutton. He came to Massachusetts from Kent on the Hercules in 1634 at the age of 21 as one of the servants of Nathaniel Tilden, a former mayor of Tenterden. A year later he married the boss's daughter.
His family's later association with the Quakers has tended to reinforce the belief that Daniel Sutton of Burlington county, New Jersey and William Sutton, an influential Quaker in Woodbridge/Piscataway, New Jersey, were his sons. After the Plymouth colony had enacted penal laws against the Quakers in 1668, these Suttons departed Massachusetts, with George Sutton migrating to North Carolina.
Many of the children settled in New Jersey.
More than twenty five Sutton descendants from New Jersey fought in the Revolutionary War (including the brothers Jonathan and Uriah who held commissions as captains), as well as others from Massachusetts. There were also Sutton descendants in North Carolina and Virginia - as recorded in T. Dix Sutton's 1941 book The Suttons of Caroline County, Virginia. Family descendants are now widely spread around America.
Australia. Richard and Mary Sutton were lured to Australia in 1853 by the gold prospects in Victoria. Although they settled in Ballarat Richard soon gave up gold digging.
Soon he had started a small music shop, bringing musical instruments and sheet music to Ballarat. This was the beginning of Sutton's Musical Emporium which traded in Melbourne for the next hundred years. His son Henry Sutton achieved renown in Australia as an inventor.
From Ireland in 1839 had come John Sutton and his family to work on the land in Western Australia as indentured servants. John in time became the keeper of the Mandurah ferry. After his death in 1857 his nephew Henry developed the family's dairy and cattle business in Mandurah. The homestead that he built in 1880 stayed with the family until 1977.
Select Sutton Miscellany
Select Sutton Names
Thomas Sutton, a moneylender, was thought to have been the richest commoner in Elizabethan England.
Charles Manners Sutton was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1805 to 1828.
Henry Sutton pioneered telephones in Australia, developed an early prototype of the television, and built the first Australian motor car.
Don Sutton was an American baseball pitcher, primarily with the Los Angeles Dodgers. His career win total of 324 ranks him fourteenth amongst all major league pitchers.
Select Suttons Today
Sutton is derived from the place-name Sutton, meaning "south town," which was fairly widespread in England. It first appeared as a surname - as Sudtone and as Suttuna - in the Domesday Book of 1086.
- Sutton Family History. Suttons from Surrey to Canada.
- Sutton Clonard. Irish Suttons to Spain and France.
- Colonial Families of New Jersey. Suttons of New Jersey.
- Descendants of Philpot John Sutton. A Sutton line in America and Canada.
- Sutton DNA Project. Sutton DNA.
England. Sutton place-names brought about some early Sutton surnames, in Yorkshire, Essex, and Nottinghamshire:
- Saier de Sutton was Lord of Sutton in Holderness in the late 12th century. The Hull river was said to have been first called the Sayer river after him. He built Branceholme castle as his home. His descendants were influential in the early history of the port of Hull.
- Sir William de Sutton married into the Bataille family in 1289 and received the Wivenhoe manor in Essex.
- and Hervey
de Sutton was Lord of Sutton upon Trent in
Nottinghamshire in the 1250's (it was said that he was the great
grandson of a Saxon tenant called Hervey de Sutton in the year 1079).
Thomas Sutton was one of the chief moneylenders of Elizabethan England, securing loans worth for as little as a few shillings or for as much as thousands of pounds to everyone from farmers to some of the most prominent courtiers, businesspeople, and politicians of his era:
"When Sutton died in 1611,
he was considered one of the richest individuals in England.
Sutton's accounts
showed that he was personally worth over ₤50,000, mostly in the form of
outstanding obligations and recognizances from the many people in debt
to him. This immense wealth earned Sutton the nicknames among his
contemporaries of 'Croesus' and 'Riche Sutton.'"
Later lines of these Suttons have included: Robert Sutton, a Royalist at the time of the Civil War; Sir Robert Sutton the diplomat (famed in horseracing circles for having brought to England the original Arabian grey from which all thoroughbred greys are descended); and indirectly, through his maternal grandfather, Charles Manners Sutton who was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 1805.
These Suttons tended to be Nottinghamshire based. But the main geographic locations of Suttons by the 19th century were:
- north and
west, from Staffordshire stretching into Lancashire. The Suttons
of Sutton Hall near Macclesfield in Cheshire date from the 12th century
(the male line, however, ran out in 1601). Sutton family
histories have begun with: Henry Sutton, born in 1718 in Horton,
Staffordshire; John Sutton, born in 1735 in Formby, Lancashire; and the
marriage of William and Mary Sutton in Hoole church in Cheshire in 1768.
- or around London and the southeast. A Sutton family held land on the Essex/Suffolk border from early times. George Sutton, the early emigrant to America, came from an Essex family and grew up in Tenterden in Kent. Philpot John Sutton, a later emigrant, came from Lydden in Kent.
Nicholas Sutton of this family visited Spain in 1579. An account of his journey has been preserved in manuscript form at the British Museum. The Sutton Clonard branch, beginning with Thomas Sutton in the 15th century, commanded a large merchant fleet in the late 17th century. However, they were James II supporters in 1689 and, after his defeat, took their fleet to Spain. Later Michael Sutton became Don Miguel Sutton and was ennobled as Conde de Clonard.
Suttons remained in Wexford. George Sutton came to Newfoundland in the 1790's and later settled to farm in New Brunswick. A number of Suttons from Wexford emigrated to Canada and Australia in the 19th century.
America. John Sutton came to Massachusetts from Lincolnshire in 1638 and settled in Hingham. His son Joseph moved to Westchester county, New York and then to Long Island.
But the first Sutton recorded in America is thought to have been George Sutton. He came to Massachusetts from Kent on the Hercules in 1634 at the age of 21 as one of the servants of Nathaniel Tilden, a former mayor of Tenterden. A year later he married the boss's daughter.
His family's later association with the Quakers has tended to reinforce the belief that Daniel Sutton of Burlington county, New Jersey and William Sutton, an influential Quaker in Woodbridge/Piscataway, New Jersey, were his sons. After the Plymouth colony had enacted penal laws against the Quakers in 1668, these Suttons departed Massachusetts, with George Sutton migrating to North Carolina.
Many of the children settled in New Jersey.
"In 19th century New Jersey, one
family of Suttons was so numerous, that, in the writer's opinion, to
bear the name and to derive ancestry from the state is almost proof of
membership in it. There were, for the most part, farmers and
artisans, attached to the Baptist or Presbyterian creeds, and located
chiefly in the northern half of the state - the east Jersey of colonial
times."
More than twenty five Sutton descendants from New Jersey fought in the Revolutionary War (including the brothers Jonathan and Uriah who held commissions as captains), as well as others from Massachusetts. There were also Sutton descendants in North Carolina and Virginia - as recorded in T. Dix Sutton's 1941 book The Suttons of Caroline County, Virginia. Family descendants are now widely spread around America.
Australia. Richard and Mary Sutton were lured to Australia in 1853 by the gold prospects in Victoria. Although they settled in Ballarat Richard soon gave up gold digging.
"Seeking amusement at night in his tent
he set about constructing a concertina, a device that had been invented
by Charles Wheatstone, the father of the telegraph."
Soon he had started a small music shop, bringing musical instruments and sheet music to Ballarat. This was the beginning of Sutton's Musical Emporium which traded in Melbourne for the next hundred years. His son Henry Sutton achieved renown in Australia as an inventor.
From Ireland in 1839 had come John Sutton and his family to work on the land in Western Australia as indentured servants. John in time became the keeper of the Mandurah ferry. After his death in 1857 his nephew Henry developed the family's dairy and cattle business in Mandurah. The homestead that he built in 1880 stayed with the family until 1977.
Select Sutton Miscellany
If you would like to read more, click on the miscellany page for
further stories and accounts:
Select Sutton Names
Thomas Sutton, a moneylender, was thought to have been the richest commoner in Elizabethan England.
Charles Manners Sutton was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1805 to 1828.
Henry Sutton pioneered telephones in Australia, developed an early prototype of the television, and built the first Australian motor car.
Don Sutton was an American baseball pitcher, primarily with the Los Angeles Dodgers. His career win total of 324 ranks him fourteenth amongst all major league pitchers.
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