Rudgyard One-Name Study

Rudgyard
One-Name Study

Topics

About the Rudgyard One-Name Study
Variants
Origin of the surname
Frequency of the name
Distribution of the name
Data
Contact Details

About the Rudgyard One-Name Study

This One-Name study has been established to concentrate on this particular surname because of the relative rarity of the use of it spelled this way.

Variants

There are many subtle variations of this surname, but this study aims to concentrate on the one spelling.

Due to the various ways information has been gathered in the past and transcribed, a number of variants and deviants appear in the records. One of the aims of this study is to clarify which occurences of the surname spelled differently are either variants or deviants and which are what might be called the qenuine name.

Origin of the surname

Another objective of the study is to find the origin of this surname, whether it is derived from another name and what that derivation might be.

This surname appears in the 18th & 19th Centuries in and around the Manifold Valley in the Staffordshire Peak District, taking in the villages of Butterton, Grindon, Wetton and the hamlet of Ecton.

The earliest record found so far is of a William Rudgyard born circa 1640 as the father of Richard Rudgyard, born 1659 in Bray, Berkshire.

There is a suggestion of a link to the village of Rudyard near Leek, but this has not been proved.

Frequency of the name

In 2002, there were only 21 people using this surname in the British Isles. Today, the number is approximately the same as there have been some births, marriages and deaths.

In the Census Records the occurrences are even less, as follows (and this is allowing for recognised deviants):

1901 = 6; 1891 = 1; 1881 = none; 1871 = 6; 1861 = 4; 1851 = 7; 1841 = 10

Historically, the Rudgyard families while as fertile as any others, have produced a preponderance of girls, which has led to the name dying out in many parts.

Distribution of the name

Today, the surname occurs in very few places; Hope in Derbyshire, Clitheroe, London, Warwick and southern England are some.

Data

One Rudgyard family moved from Butterton, Staffordshire to Barton in Irwell, which is now part of Greater Manchester, and on to Lancashire (Merseyside) and Clitheroe.

As far as is known, the descendants of this family are the recorded Rudgyards of today.

Contact details

For further information, contact:

Mr Philip R Andrews
E-mail:

This page last updated 2 March 2008.