My interest in researching my family name goes back many years, but like most people, I never did have the time. For most of those years I believed that the name of HUTCHFIELD was a single family name. I still hold to that belief.
My own research into the family name first started in earnest in 1996, after I had been living in Canada for a number of years. Progress has been steady and by the start of the year 2001, around 250 names have been traced and linked.
My interest is not only in establishing all the family connections, but in learning about the background of each person. To gleen some insight into their lives. They were human beings, just like you and me, with feelings, likes, dislikes, occupations and positions in their local communities. They had friends, and yes, in some cases I'm sure, enemies.
I need to know about all those titbits of information which are out there. Other people have links to the family, if you are one of those people, please let me know about it. All information is useful in my quest. E-mail me at, treaclemine@hotmail.com
Research so far has established that the family consists of two main groups. The first one brings together the HUTCHFIELD's of County Durham, the Midlands, Essex, Lancashire, all in England. It also includes Ohio in the United States. The family lines for this group converge in North Wales.
The second group centres itself on the HUTCHFIELD's of Somerset, England.
By far the largest single group is that belonging to County Durham, England. Research has established that the HUTCHFIELD's settled in County Durham some time between 1872 and 1874, when John (Jno) Hutchfield and his eight children arrived from the village of Meliden in Flintshire, North Wales
The reasons for their migration are not clear, however in keeping with the times, they are probably linked to the economy and the growing industrialisation taking place in the north east at that time. >p>Once in County Durham the family settled in the area between Coundon and Coundon Grange, which is located a short distance to the east of Bishop Auckland. This area was a veritable rabbit warren of coal mines, bearing such names as Black Boy, Gurney Pit, Auckland Park, and the South Durham Colliery. Spin-ff industries such as brick works and coke ovens were intertwined with the coal mines and the railway tracks that served the industries.
Today this area shows few traces of what could have been described as the "Rhondda Valley" of the north. A few of the old community names still survive, however. Coundon, Coundon Grange, Eldon,and Close House can still be found. But to find the community of Tottenham, the birth place of at least two members of the family, it is necessary to turn to large scale copies of the Ordnance Survey Maps of around 1899.
John Hutchfield can rightfully be called the "Father of County Durham", because it is from his family that all the other County Durham branches of the HUTCHFIELD name have grown
By the start of 2001 the earliest discovered reference to the HUTCHFIELD family is a marriage in 1713 of a Samuel Hockfield to an Elizabeth Byrd in the parish of Whitford in Flintshire, North Wales.
The parish registers around this time record the death, (but not the ages), of two lady members of the family, so Samuel was originally not alone in the county.
As can be seen, the surname is not an obvious Welsh surname, so it would be reasonable to assume that the family migrated to the area from elsewhere. But from where?
From North Wales the family lines have spread to other parts of the United Kingdon. Thomas Hutchfield, (b: 1851), a school master moved first to Thurlstone, Yorkshire and then on to Birmingham in the Midlands. His family spread further, travelling to Essex, before returning north to settle in Manchester, Lancashire.
As we have seen, John Hutchfield moved to County Durham, and the lines have spread out from there. John's elder brother Owen, (b: 1830), crossed the Atlantic and settled in Brookfield, Ohio in the United States. One of his son's, also called John, (b: 1871) became a physician, and practiced for many years in Columbus, Ohio.
The second group relates to the HUTCHFIELD's of Somerset, England. So far the earliest proven reference to the family name is to a James Hutchfield (b: c1779), in the parish of Wheathill, Somerset.
A possible relative of his, Charles Hutchfield, (b: c1796), also of the parish of Wheathill, served for twenty years in the 40th Regiment, British Army. His service record shows that he fought at the Battle of Waterloo, and also that of New Orlean, Louisiana in the United States.
Charles later served in New South Wales Australia, and for a short time in Belgaum, India, before retiring from the military and becoming a Chelsea Pensioner.
At least one other member of the Somerset branch, Letitia Hutchfield (b: 1848), emigrated. Some years after her marriage to Robert Penney, she and her family moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
The accompanying links contain details of those persons who have been identified as being members of the HUTCHFIELD FAMILY TREE.
The links will be updated periodically as the research progresses, so if you detect a potential interest, keep monitoring!
GOOD HUNTING!
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