Before we begin looking at the history of our beloved surname, let us see how surnames (last names) actually began.
At the time of William the Conqueror (1066) surnames
were all but unheard of. A few did exist, but only among the very
rich. It was much more common to distinguish families and individuals by
simply saying something like "that's John, son of George", or
identifying a person by their occupation: "That's Mike the
carpenter." If you remember, the Bible often did that!
In Scotland, families began being known by their
Tartan, or colors, and then by their parent or parents.
In the 13-15th centuries a more common way to
distinguish between families was needed, for tax purposes if no other, and laws
throughout Europe began to demand surnames. Again, many began using "son
of" as a surname, and George, son of David, became George Davidson.
The Scott's did the same thing, only used Mc or Mac to designate the "son
of" (Mc) or "daughter of" (Mac). Naturally, many used their
occupations--Smith, Carpenter, etc. Some also used the area or land they came
from (and here is where we get Dudley).
Even in England the Spanish sounding "de" was
often used to designate a nobles land. In our case, our first known Dudley was
John de Sutton--and then just John Sutton. Many times, he would be just called
"Sutton". Has anyone ever seen the movie "Robin Hood, Prince of
Thieves" starring Kevin Costner? You see an excellent example of this in
that movie. If you remember, his real name was Robin of Locksley, but more
often he was just called Locksley. That was because of the land he owned--and
if you listen real close when he first returns to England at the beginning of
the movie--that IS explained to you. And then there's the Robin Hood. Listen
again, at first it was Robin of the Hood.
In researching surnames, many problems can be encountered--especially with 13-15th century names. NOTE: please remember--and I'm NOT putting you down--that when I say 13-15th century, it covers the years 1200 to 1400. In computing years and centuries, YEAR=Century - 1. 14th Century is 13xx). The main problem is in occupation names. The son of a Blacksmith may grow up to become a carpenter. Therefore, during the 1300's a person may be baptized John Smith and buried John Carpenter! Be careful of this. The reason is, of course, is that when the tax collector came he'd just put the man's first name and then his occupation down as his name!!
In the case of Dudley (FINALLY!) we do not have many problems--ALL the founding Dudley's were nobles--Barons. And here we begin our story.
NOTE: sorry to interrupt you again, but I MUST state that as we are going waaaaaay back in time that some of the following information is open to dispute. It is, I assure you, the most accurate I could find.
According to Dean Dudley, author of the monumental (though often confusing) "History of the Dudley Family" (and, I must say, many other sources) a Saxon man by the name of Dudd (or Dudde) died in 725 A.D (his title was Duke of Mercia). He owned the land that eventually became the site of Dudley Castle (see the Castle page here at the site). Now, as an old English word for "land" or "field" was leigh or lay, it was natural to call the land Dudd's leigh, and shorten it to...you guessed it--Dudley. When John de Sutton (remember--he was "John of Sutton" then) took over the land he was called "Sir John de Sutton, Lord Dudley". He was a "Sir" because he was a Knight. "de Sutton" to designate his origin, and "Lord Dudley" to designate his Barony--the land of Dudd's leigh.
NOW things get a little complicated--try to follow please.
John Sutton married Isabel de Charlton (daughter of John de Charlton) and John died in 1359. Now, THEIR children kept the name Sutton until about 1420. In the meantime, they went on to hold the castle and eventually changing their name to "de Dudley" and then just "Dudley" in said year 1420. They became known as the "Lords of Dudley" or "Barons of Dudley." They are also known as the "second house".
SECOND house?? Well (I told you it gets complicated), Isabel married one Richard de Dudley in 1361. THEIR children immediately assumed the name Dudley, and became the FIRST house (simply because they took the name first). Now--these Dudley's are known as the CLOPTON Dudley's. (NOTE: Although not well documented, it seems Thomas de Dudley, one of Richard's sons, settled in Clopton and became Lord of Clopton manor. This was because, apparently, the OTHER Sutton's had the castle. See, I told you it's a little boggling) The other line--those that hold the castle and took the name latter--are known as the SUTTON Dudley's.
So--we have TWO lines of Dudley's (apparently springing from the same mother, but different fathers) producing offspring.
ALL DUDLEY'S TODAY SPRING FROM THE ABOVE HISTORY. ALL. Except...
Many have asked about some Dudley's they have met that are Black. Obviously, they can't be from the above!(?) Welllllll some could. We won't get into a lot of that. Interracial marriages were kept quiet back then, but there is another answer:
Most American Civil War slaves never had a surname. When they were freed, some just plain picked a name they liked and took it as their last names. Some took the state, city, occupation, etc. etc. they were in or worked at, and some--more than you might expect--took the name of their masters. This was especially so if the master was kind. It is well known that some North and South Carolina Dudley's held slaves, and it is from here that, I believe, most Black Dudley's got their name.
I am continually researching this, and intend to update this page regularly. So, the only thing I can say is:
to be continued......
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