The story about an area called Dalton-in-Furness

 

DALTON - IN – FURNESS

 

This is the story about an area called Furness, which is in the present day Lancashire Co. England. This area is probably the place where our Le Sieur De Dalton got his name from. My explanation is written below and is only my theory or speculation if you will.

(Rodney Dalton, Sept. 2002)

As you know by now, surnames or last names were not permeably attached to a person’s first name until about 1300 A.D. So we can assume by reading our early Dalton history that the Dalton Genealogy Society in England has been researching for many years that the first Dalton was called “Walter de Dalton” or Le Sieur de Dalton. Which is French for “of Dalton” The story goes like this:

“In 1086 in the Domesday Book, there are three places called Dalton. Dalton, near Wigan. Dalton in Furness and Dalton, near Kirkby Stephen. The name Dalton appears only as a place name, not a surname. It simply means "of the hill village". The earliest Dalton we hear of as a named man, is Michael of Dalton, the Abbot of Furness Abbey in 1136.

There is a tradition that there was a man known as Le Sieur de Dalton, who was the head of the village of Dalton. He had two sons, one known as Dalton of Byspham and a second son, Symon, and a grandson, John Dalton, who was still alive in 1193. (These are Lancashire villages).  It is also known that Le Sieur went with the Earl of Manchester, on behalf of King Stephen to treat with Henry II in France for his return to England in 1154. This man may have been called “Walter” and there is a tradition that when he finished his business in France, he secretly married Princess Jane, daughter of King Louis VII of France. He fled back to England, and was a Knight in Henry II's army that invaded Ireland. He settled in Meath, Ireland and founded the Irish Dalton’s, who called themselves D'Aliton or Daton”

Source: The above text is taken from a talk given by Dr. Slater of the Dalton Genealogy Society in 1993.

To continue with our story:

In the fifth century, after the Romans had departed, a state of lawlessness and confusion returned to Britain. The north-western coastline was raided almost at will by the Irish, Vikings and Scots, and for the isolated communities living in Furness, this period must have been one of constant worry and distress. As well as the aforementioned troublemakers, the population of Low Furness also had the fearsome Norsemen to contend with, and it is generally believed that it was because of this coastal piracy that many people deserted their isolated farmsteads near the coast, and moved inland, with the fortified village of Dalton as their obvious choice. The resulting increase in population could well have marked the birth of Dalton as a town, rather than just a fortified settlement.

Although there can be no doubt that for many years before they actually settled in Furness, the Vikings had raided our coasts with legendary ferocity, it is quite likely that when they eventually migrated here they came as fugitives, not as conquerors.

In the year 1086, the Domesday1 survey was completed, and this gives us our earliest documentary information. This part of Furness was in the Manor of Hougun and had belonged to the Earls of Northumbria since the time of Canute, and is entered in the survey under 'Agemundreness' (Amounderness)

The entry in Domesday book covering Hougun refers to the time when it was held by Tostig, about 1060, and reads as follows: “In High Haume Manor, Earl Tosti had four carucates of land rateable to the geld. In Killerwick, three car., Sowerby, three car., Hawcoat, four car., DALTUNE (Dalton) two car., Thwaite Flat, two car”.

This brief reference marks the end of the era of unrecorded history in Furness, and the beginning of a new era when documentary evidence enables us to identify people, places and events with a greater degree of accuracy

The Founding of Furness Abbey:

AFTER WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR had been crowned king of England at Westminster on 25th December 1066, the next five years were spent in subjugating the rebellious inhabitants, particularly in the north of the country which was mercilessly devastated. Despite its remoteness, Furness did not escape the Norman onslaught and considerable areas of land were laid waste, and presumably many of its inhabitants put to the sword. At this time, Furness belonged to Roger de Poictou, a Norman lord, and had been granted to him as a reward for services rendered to William during the conquest; but because he opposed the succession to the throne of Henry - William's third son - Roger was banished from the kingdom, and his possessions in Furness were bestowed upon Stephen, Earl of Boulogne and afterwards King of England.

Although the Normans were fierce warriors, they were also superstitious, and believed they could help to guarantee the safety of their souls by means of generous donations of property and land to the monasteries. In 1127, Stephen, unashamedly admitting his motive, gave part of his 'forest of Furness' to Ewan d'Avranches, abbot of a small Benedictine monastery at Tulketh near Preston. The only land in Low Furness excluded from Stephen's gift was that which belonged to Michael le Fleming, which extended from Aldingham along the south-eastern side of the peninsula.

Abbot Ewan, together with 12 monks from Tulketh, moved to Furness and chose to erect their monastery in the beautiful, secluded valley then known as Bekansgill, at a point just about a mile from Dalton. The actual events which took place in this valley just over eight and a half centuries ago have not been recorded, but it is reasonably certain that the first buildings to be erected would be temporary structures for prayer, and to provide shelter while the monastery was being constructed.

At the time of Henry II (1154-1189), the monastic possessions in Furness consisted of the parish of Dalton, which at that time included the manors of Dalton, Plain Furness and Hawkshead - a total area of 55,000 acres.

The feudal conditions which existed in Furness immediately after the conquest are now impossible to determine in detail, but following the foundation of the abbey it appears that the population1 of Furness was divided into three classes. The most honourable of these were the free homagers, who were exempt from villein service and were bound to the lord by homage only and the payment of rent. The next class down were the copyholders who possessed a court roll copy confirming their tenancy. For this they paid 4d and an annual rent, but were excused all other obligations except military service. The third class, to which most people belonged, were the customary tenants who were originally serfs, and thus banned from any tenure of property. Under the abbots they were granted the right to property, for which they paid rent and an admission fine and were bound in homage and other services to the abbot. Members of all these classes swore an oath of fealty to the abbot to be true to him against all men except the king.

Another article on Dalton in Furness:

“Dalton-in-Furness is an old settlement mentioned in the Doomsday Book as Daltune. The original town was almost hidden in a narrow valley out of the convenient reach of the sea and ship-borne raiders and for a considerable time in history, Furness was the chief town and administrative centre for the district. Dalton Castle stands above the town built to defend the people of Dalton and the approaches to the Furness Abbey. The date when the castle was first built in Dalton is lost in obscurity. It was suggested that a castellum was founded there in AD 79 but no evidence has been found to support it. In 1127 King Stephen conferred on the Abbot of Furness the power to hold courts and administer justice and as early as 1239 there is reference to a jury in the agreement between William Fleming of Admingham and the Abbey. In 1257 the first reference is made in a prison at Dalton, but the present castle, judging from its architectural details, could not have been built at that time. In 1292 the Abbot of Furness claimed the right to erect gallows at Dalton and was also allowed the pillory and ducking stool. No date has been found for the building of the present castle but the invasion of the country by the Scots between 1314 and 1346 may have necessitated the building of a castle. In 1546 at the direction of Henry VIII the castle was repaired at a cost of 20 pounds”.

So lets again assume that if our research of the first Dalton is correct then “Sir Walter de Dalton” was knighted by King Henry II for his service to the Crown and given title and land in the area we have talked about above; “Dalton in Furness”

Our next problem is to find out if in fact our Le Sieur de Dalton” was born in Normandy as many Dalton researchers assume (See the many articles on this subject in the DGSJ) or was he just a man from the little village of “Dalton” in Lancashire who was lucky enough to have known the Earl of Manchester as mentioned in Dr. Lucy Slater’s article?

I personally believe he was born in Normandy and was granted lands in “Dalton” in Lancashire and the research we have done is correct.

Sources:

From the Book “From Knights to Dreamers, THE JOURNEY OF OUR UTAH DALTON FAMILY FROM EARLY 1100 AD to 2002 AD and BEYOND” by Rodney Dalton.

Article’s from the Dalton Genealogy Society.

From the notes of Rodney Dalton personal “Dalton database.

Many search’s of the Internet for the “Dalton” surname.