Tom the Viking

Here, with a nod toward the Burtons who trace their lineage to Normandy and the Vikings, is me in my Teutonic raiment.

This morning I've reached the 21-day mark on my count-down to retirement. Twenty-one days! It's almost impossible to grasp the enormity of it. After twenty-five years of state government, and over forty some odd years of showing up somewhere every morning at 7:00 or 8:00 a.m., I'll have nowhere I must be every day. I'll actually be able to read the morning paper in the morning! What a concept.

Plans for the trip to the UK continue unabated though Delta playfully continues to tinker with our flight numbers and, at times, intermediate stops. I think the only area of the country they don't have us stopping is Alaska, which I'm sure they've at least considered.

Yesterday I emailed the rental agent for the mini we're going to be driving asking that he send me a .jpg of the car so I can post it here. I hoping for a red one so everyone can avoid me when I make traffic mistakes. They drive on the "wrong" side of the road, you know. In 1973 when I lived on the island of Malta in the Mediterranean for several months I found that everyone drove on the left side. I actually made the switch rather easily. We were riding motorbikes most of the time, but I even successfully drove a big Ford station wagon on malta's tiny roads without incident.

This week I made another incursion into heretofore avoided areas of technology and loaded up a gift IPod with several hundred jazz, classical, and folk tunes to listen to on the airplane should their in-house music prove wanting. On our recent trip to Florida, the airliner's canned music was awful. The IPod doesn't take up much room and I was taking the "noise-cancelling" headphones anyway.

Right now I'm listening to Celtic music, which reminds me of a book I recently finished. It's called Saxons, Vikings, and Celts: The Genetic Roots of Britain and Ireland.It's available through Amazon for as little as $8.50. The book is a great read if you're interested in learning about your British ancestors. The author, Bryan Sykes, uses DNA testing to determine just what impact various immigrants and invaders have had on British genetic makeup. When I had the National Geographic genetic test done, I learned that my ancestors spent the last big ice age holed up in Spain. Sykes says that later, a coastal contingent of these Spaniards sailed north to the British Isles and became what we consider to be the Celts. The most surprising thing I learned from Saxons, Vikings, and Celts was the relatively small impact the various late-comers -- the Vikings, the Angles, the Jutes, the Saxons, and the Normans -- have had on the genetic makeup of the islands. I won't spoil it for you. You'll have to read the book, something I heartily recommend.

The Burton Family Boys

Since I've been studying genealogy, I've become acutely aware of how tenuous a thing it is for a family name to survive from generation to generation. In earlier times everyone had large families, what with child mortality from sanitary conditions and epidemics being so high. Lots of kids helped insure that at least one boy would survive in each generation to carry on the family name.

My great great great grandfather, Joseph Burton, had five sons: James, John, Henry, William, and Thomas. Of these five, Henry and William had no children, and John had only a single girl child. Only James and the youngest son, Thomas, my great great grandfather, had boys.

James had three sons: Frederick in 1851, Thomas in 1858, and Henry in 1862.
Thomas had two sons: Joseph in 1850 and Albin in 1868

I looked up James' son Thomas and found that he was still living in Wiltshire in 1901, as was his brother, Henry. Frederick had moved to Andover, Hampshire, but was also still in England by the time of the 1901 census. I suspect none of these brothers immigrated to America.

Turning to Thomas, my gg-grandfather's sons, Joseph and Albin, we find that Albin, the younger son, was still living in England in 1901. Older brother, Joseph was the only Burton boy to immigrate to America, which he did in late 1879 or early 1880 after having a son, Thomas, in 1879. It was in America, in the state of Pennsylvania, that my Grandmother, Gwendolain Burton, was born around 1887. While not important for survival of the Burton name, it sure was an important event for me.

It will be interesting to research further to find out if Joseph's son, Thomas (or a later son, Alexander) produced sons to carry on the Burton name in America. In England, the descendants of James' sons, Thomas and Frederick (son Henry evidently had no children), whose names were Ashton, Edwin, Frederick, Henry, and Arthur, almost certainly produced a son between the five of them, and Thomas' son, Albin had two boys, Reginald and George, who could have produced a boy or two between them. If so, my Burton ancestors in Wiltshire and Hampshire probably number in the dozens, if not hundreds. Maybe I'll run into one or two on our upcoming trip.

Nice '32 Ford

Antique vehicles is a subject in which I've been interested since I was a little kid. I acquired my first restoration project, my uncle Frank Jones' 29 Ford flatbed truck, when I wasn't even old enough to drive. The 32 Ford pictured here isn't mine. I happened upon it on a recent outing to Bishop, California. It was so good looking, I just felt I had to get my picture taken next to it. I hope the ower will understand.

More on Tisbury, Wiltshire, England

Here's a bit more history on the village of Tisbury, Wiltshire, that I gleaned from a Wiltshire government site:

"Tisbury is slightly unusual for a large Wiltshire parish, with early settlement, in that no main road crosses the parish, and no road in it was turnpiked. The only road through the village is that from Chilmark to Fovant, which is joined by a minor road from the west at Tisbury. Historically the modern civil parishes of West Tisbury and East Tisbury were one and much of the early history below relates to this whole area, which includes Wardour and Hatch. The later history, and histories of churches and schools, is concerned only with the modern parish of Tisbury, formerly East Tisbury, which contains the nucleated village and Wardour.

The first known settlement of the village site of Tisbury came in Saxon times. This was probably a defensive site, the name indicates this, and it is possible that it was part of King Alfred’s Burghal Hidage, providing one of the fortresses prepared for defence against the Danes. Tisbury was certainly occupied by the West Saxons who, by 759, named it Tissebiri – Tysse’s Burh. A monastery was here by 700 and may have been established by 674. An early, if not the first, abbot was Wintra who is mentioned in land documents. In 705 the Synod of the Nadder was held here, which was attended by a young monk named Winfrith, who is better known, particularly in continental Europe, as St. Boniface. The fact that Tisbury hosted this synod is a good indication as to the importance of the monastery here. The monastery was probably one large building, with a separate church and outbuildings. It was razed to the ground in the 19th century during the early Norse raids and the monks were slain.

When King Alfred founded Shaftesbury Abbey, c.880, the lands of Tisbury were given to the Abbey. It is at this time that the village is first mentioned although it is likely to have already existed for 150-200 years. It is most likely that the village had a stone church, probably on the site of the present one. In 984 King Ethelred confirmed the grant of the Tisbury estate to the Abbess of Shaftesbury. The grange, or administrative headquarters, of the estate was at Place Farm, where the medieval buildings of Shaftesbury’s farming operations can still be seen.

By the time of the Norman Conquest Tisbury was a reasonable sized village and the Domesday Book (1086) gives us some idea of this although the population is for the whole estate, not just the village. Using modern interpretation of Domesday figures it would seem that over 300 people lived on the estate and interestingly there were no serfs listed. The village itself is likely to have been in the lower part of the present High Street and around the church. There was a Saxon routeway between Ebbesbourne Wake and Warminster and this was on solid bedrock in Tisbury and so did not deviate when bad weather caused deep mud elsewhere. The upper part of the High Street follows this line and so you may still walk where Saxon traders travelled. By the late 11th century there were four mills, meadowland, pastureland and woodland on the estate, which had land for 40 plough teams.

Cloth production is evidenced by mention of a fulling mill in the early 14th century and weavers are mentioned from 1372 to 1762. By 1334 this was a wealthy and populous parish, which including Hatch, was given the fifth highest assessment for wealth in the county. It seems that Tisbury suffered badly in the Black Death of 1348-9, which cut the population drastically and caused much land to remain uncultivated. It was especially bad in Hatch, in West Tisbury. In 1349 about 75 deaths of customary tenants, and doubtless their families, were recorded by Shaftesbury Abbey. However the village and estate seems to have recovered well as by 1377 there were 433 poll tax payers, making this one of the most populous parishes in the county.

During the 15th century the village had expanded. The main village street was the upper part of the High Street while North Street (Hindon Lane today) had houses and homesteads along it by 1444. Quarrying was still taking place throughout the parish and weaving was a local industry. By c.1500 all the arable land had been enclosed enabling more efficient farming to be carried out. This was part of a modernization program by Shaftesbury Abbey, whose grange at Place Farm had two larder houses, stables, houses for oxen, hay sheds, charcoal sheds and a fishpond within its walls, and the present great barn and three fish ponds without.

In 1825 a short lived industrial venture began with the building of a cloth factory at the southern end of Fonthill Lake. There was a 6-storey block, a 5-storey factory with 3 water wheels, a drying house and a dyehouse. The buildings were erected by the eccentric Mr Farquhar, a retired gunpowder maker, and completed by 1827 with a house and 24 cottages. The idea was to weave a superfine woollen cloth and 200 people, mainly from Gloucestershire, were employed. Despite an abundant supply of water the venture failed, probably as this was a remote area, with poor communications and a factory could not compete with the steam powered ones of western Wiltshire that were sited near canals. The machinery was sold in 1830 and the buildings demolished between 1838 and 1886.

Tisbury was divided into three parishes in 1835 – East Tisbury (Tisbury village), West Tisbury and Wardour. By 1846 there were 40 stone quarries, although not all were in use. They were mainly used for local buildings as, in the first part of the 19th century, Tisbury stone was expensive in London as there was no local canal or railway for transport. After the opening of the railway line the situation changed and there was a stone yard at the railway station in the latter part of the 19th century. The Salisbury and Yeovil Railway opened this line in 1859 and Tisbury Station was built to the south of the village. At first this was a single line, it was doubled by 1870 but in 1967 it was reduced to a single line across the parish again. After the coming of the railway Tisbury began to take on the appearance of a small town."

Thanks to Stefan Slatter and picturesofengland.com for the nice sunset photo of Tisbury.

Tisbury, Wiltshire, England

My Burton ancestors came, at least in the 19th century, from the tiny village of Tisbury, Wiltshire. I found a short history of Tisbury, which unfortunately doesn't mention my estemed ancestors, at the local historical society site:

BRIEF HISTORY OF TISBURY

Tisbury is the most prominent of the Nadder Valley villages. It is situated on the steep northern slopes of the valley underlaid by the light grey Portland stone used for the two Salisbury Cathedrals and many other local buildings. Quarrying, therefore, would have been an important local industry from very early times.

Because of the marshy nature of the river, the original inhabitants of the area may well have lived east of the Nadder at the hilltop fortification known as Castle Ditches. It was the Saxons who first descended to the valley sometime between the 6th and 8th Centuries to create a series of settlements one of which became known as Tysse’s Burgh, ‘the stronghold of Tysse’s people’. An Anglo-Saxon monastery of some importance also developed here and continued until the creation of King Alfred’s new abbey at Shaftesbury in the mid-880s.

By the late l2th Century, the little community along the Nadder had become sufficiently prosperous to replace its earlier wooden Saxon church with the prominent parish church of St John the Baptist. The requirements of an increasing population led to many changes resulting in the fine cruciform building we now see today. This included the raising of the roof in the mid-l5th Century to allow the new clerestory to flood the church with light. The earlier 60 foot spire, too, was discarded in l762 after lightning strikes had brought it tumbling into the north aisle for the second time in twenty years!

East of the church lie the graves of John Lockwood and Alice Kipling, the parents of the author Rudyard Kipling. After a long and distinguished artistic career in India, the Kiplings retired to a residence along Hindon Lane which they renamed ‘The Gables’. Their famous son visited them here and, whilst working on his novel ‘Kim’, used one of the pupils from Tisbury Boys’ School as the model for the main character.

The construction of the London to Exeter Railway in l859 transformed the tiny village of Tisbury, allowing it to develop a much larger commercial and light industrial base. But this would not have been possible without the foresight of the speculator, Archibald Beckett. He constructed a new road, the current High Street, through the village replacing the narrow causeway which can still be seen winding between houses to the east. Beckett also built the red brick Victorian shops and houses which fringe the road and an inn, the Benett Arms and finally the brewery in Church Street which has been converted into apartments. Beckett’s initiative was complemented by other new roads straddling the developing community and constructed by the Arundell and Morrison families from Wardour Castle and Fonthill Park. Thus arose the framework for the Tisbury we see today.

The Burtons in English History

One of the most interesting aspects of genealogy for me is knowing the history of the various family names. Here's a little history of the Burton family name I found on the web:

"The surname Burton is a habitational name from a place name that is very common in central and northern England. The derivation in most cases is from Old English burh ‘fort’ (see Burke) + tun ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’. There are at least twenty-nine parishes in England so called. Local surnames, by far the largest group, derived from a place name where the man held land or from the place from which he had come, or where he actually lived. These local surnames were originally preceded by a preposition such as "de", "atte", "by" or "in". The names may derive from a manor held, from working in a religious dwelling or from literally living by a wood or marsh or by a stream. Following the Crusades in Europe a need was felt for a family name. This was recognized by those of noble blood, who realized the prestige and practical advantage it would add to their status. Early records of the name mention Richard de Burton, 1273 Yorkshire and John de Burtone appears County Somerset, during the reign of Edward III (1327-1377). Willelmus de Burton of Yorkshire was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379. Giles Burton married Hannah Abberley, St. George's Chapel, Mayfair in 1754. A Shropshire family of this name came originally from Burton, near Much Wenlock. They have held lands near Shrewsbury since the time of Edward IV. Richard Burton (1821-90) the explorer and orientalist, was a member of a cadet branch. The bulk of European surnames in countries such as England and France were formed in the 13th and 14th centuries. The process started earlier and continued in some places into the 19th century, but the norm is that in the 11th century people did not have surnames, whereas by the 15th century they did. The associated arms are recorded in Sir Bernard Burkes General Armory. Ulster King of Arms in 1884."

And from another source:
"The name Burton is said to have been derived from the residents of its first bearers in places of that name in England. [Burke's Encyclopedia of Heraldry and General Armory of England, Scotland and Ireland, a copy of which is in the State Historical Library University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, states that the Burtons of Falde Hall, county Stafford; Lindley and Bedwood county Leicester: and Dronfield, county Derby, all in England, descended from Ingenulfe de Burton, who came to England with the Conqueror.

William the Conqueror, or William of Normandy, formerly Duke of Normandy, came from Normandy, France, to England in 1066. Normandy is a duchy or state of northern France. Between 850 and 900 A.D. much of northern France was over-run, conquered and settled by Northmen, Norsemen from Scandinavia and Denmark; they were Teutonic people. In 911 King Charles the Simple, King of western France, ceded to Rolf, or Rollo, the Northman the duchy of Normandy, the people of which, then, would be a mixture of French and Teutons, or Norman French, and called Normans. Fifth in descent from Rolf, the Northman, was William, Duke of Normandy, or William of Normandy; subsequently William, the Conqueror, in Oct. 1066; and William I, King of England, crowned in Dec 1066. Ingenulfe de Burton came to England with the Conqueror, then, in 1066. Inge (Ing-gen) in the given name Ingenulfe, is still found in the Danish surname, Ingemann, and in the pleasing Norwegian given, or Christian name, Ingebor or Ingobar. Hence the given name Ingenulfe indicates that he was of Teutonic descent, either Danish or Scandinavian. The de in de Burton is French, meaning of or from. thus the surname is at least part French. The combination of the two, Teutonic and French, would make the name Norman French.

From the name and because he came with the Conqueror, who was Norman French and came from Normandy, it seems one can conclude with safety that Ingenulfe de Burton was Norman French and came from Normandy. Burton is probably a Normandy district, or township, or village, in which he or his ancestors, or both, had lived.

All of the Burtons in England, and there are many of them, are very probably descendants of Ingenulfe de Burton, even if the colony to which they belong is a sub-colony of the first Burton colony or colonies in England."

As you can see from the chart below, even in 1841 there were a lot of Burtons living in Britain. I found this chart on the "your-family-history.com" website that shows the frequency of the name "Burton" in the British census records. Left-click on it to make it larger. Use your browser's back-button to return to the blog:

Oddly enough, my Burton ancestors lived in Wiltshire county in the little village of Tisbury, not mentioned in the above accounts of pirmary Burton settlement areas. Not sure why this is at present, but it should be fun to research.