This page was never intended to be, but as I've gone along creating this site I've come across various oddities that I could not explain. Routledges at famous historical events, or famous Routledges. And even a few that I could not tie in with our history at all. I figure the best thing to start off with was what has the potential to be the oldest. And rather annoyingly if I ever prove it was a Routledge who bought a farm in surrey in 1318, then this site, and the history books will need to be rewrote regarding the Routledges first appearance...again!
Rowledge?
Its always the same no matter what you do in life. Just when you think you have finished doing something, you find the bit you've missed out. And that was no different with this. Earlier on this site I said that was not claiming the first Routledges to be in Hawick in 1433, but I did say that it is the earliest I could find. And that I stand by as I've yet to find any people called Routledge any earlier. But what I have found is what I can only described as a tantalizing and annoying hint of possible Routledge as early as 1318!
In 1318 in Surrey, England there was and estate called Hornsey Farm. And in 1318 part of its land was sold separately to an unknown buyer. However by 1388 this land was referred to as Rowledge Farm and the name stuck. Today it is a small hamlet on the border of Surrey and Hampshire just south west of London.
As a child there was a Chinese takeaway near me and the owner was called Susan. and all of my life i have referred to the takeaway as Susan's even though she has long since gone. This takeaway is found in an area called High Barnes, but the farm land and barns have been gone for over 100 years. And I'm sure no matter where you live this is the same for you. Now Rowledge is also a surname and if you type it in on any search engine it tends not to link it to Routledge. So this may very well be a completely different surname. However after looking up the surname it tells me that it either derives from a lost place in Cumberland, or from pre 7th century Old Norse word 'ra' and old English 'hyrdg' meaning 'the deer's ridge'. This is certainly a different meaning than red river, and perhaps both are right.
Or perhaps the Routledges came from abroad and first settled in southern England. This would explain the the Rutledges in London in the 1560's that I mention later on this page. But perhaps it could have been the other way around, as for in 1308 on the Hornsey estate there is four northern bandits working the lands. The biggest problem with this is that you're in the midst of the Anglo-Scottish wars, and just about everywhere is northern to surrey!
Hackney Routledges
Now this one was a bit off a mystery to me and still is. Hackney is today a suburb of London and nothing more. But back in the 16th century it was a tiny hamlet with a 13th century church and a tower that still survives today. So while 400 miles north the English and Scottish were raiding and murdering and reiving, this peaceful little place was blissfully unaware of the Border Reivers.
In 1528 the Routledges had been chased from their home land on the Tarras moss and scattered to Scotland and Ireland except for those who had dared to stay. But perhaps some had ran south. As for in 1560 to 1564 in what is now St Johns at Hackney, we find four christenings.
Francis Rutlegg 12th July 1564
John Rutlegg 6th June 1563
Ann Rutlegg 2nd March 1561
Dority Rutlegg 14 January 1560
None of them are recorded with a mothers or fathers name, nor is there any other Routledges between 1541 and 1745 being christened in this parish. So where they came from or went I have been unsuccessful in finding out. There is no other Routledges appearing in Southern records till around the turn of the 16th century, and one off those is the family of the first Routledge in America. So like I say this to me is a complete mystery, but a very strange one that I struggle to tie in with any other Routledge history or Genealogy I've encountered in my research.
Routledges and Napoleon
When I first started of tracing my family tree I was hoping to find relatives at major historical events, such as Trafalgar or Waterloo. So in my naivety I search the records for a selection of events to see if there were any Routledges present. I found plenty, but sadly non are related to me. But perhaps they might be related to some one out there who might not even know it yet. Some of the Routledges I found I could trace in records, but others where nothing more than a mention. And the problem with major battles is that they never list the survivors, just the dead.
As a fan of the TV series Sharpe staring Sean Bean and the Sharpe books by
Bernard Cornwell my first choice was to naturally look into the famous
95th rifle. 'First on the battle field, and last of'. Of course I knew
before I started that finding a relative or a name sake in the rifles was
going to be optimistic. But nevertheless I had success. I came across a
Sergeant John Rutledge of the 95th rifles on the medal lists. I know from
what little information there was that he certainly saw a lot of action
during the peninsular wars. He had been awarded 6 campaign medals along
with a further 12 bars, and this was by 1814. In fact I've found 5
Rutledges who served during the peninsular wars
The other Napoleonic name sake I came across was at the Battle of
Trafalgar. In fact I found two, and they were both good examples of how
the northern English accent changed the Routledge spelling. Christened
Francis Routledge in Durham, Francis appears as a Rutledge serving onboard
the HMS Revenge aged 25 as a 'landsman' and from Newcastle in 1805. The
other is a more experienced man in the form of a John Routledge aged 45
who appears onboard the HMS Polyphemus as a Able Seaman and a Rutlidge
from Whitehaven, Cumberland. John is recorded having a wife called Joana
Rutlidge who he leaves a will too on 7th Sept 1804.
As for what became of these above Routledges I've been unsuccessful in finding out. But if anyone out there is related to them I would like to here from you and perhaps I can tell there tale better.
Famous Routledges
If you have a surname like Beckham then when ever you give you name you would get the question, 'you mean like the footballer'. Well as a Routledge I find this is starting to happen a bit more often than it used to. Where before I was asked if it was spelt the same way as the English actress Patricia Routledge, who came from near the borders, I now get asked if it is the same as the footballer. Living in a Football crazy country it certainly does make life easier having the same surname as a Premiership footballer. Wayne Routledge who made his name at Crystal Palace then Tottenham.
But these are not the only Routledges to have been in the public eye. Around the turn of the 19th century there was a few famous explorers that would have been in the newspapers quite a bit. From Darlington came a Katherine Routledges who was the first person to study Easter Island and then in 1933 a Hugh Ruttledge became only the forth British person to climb Mount Everest, and again in 1936.
So Routledges may not have been the first on the moon, or a American President, But we have had people climb and explore the world, and even start a world famous publishing firms. But then again I suppose it is up to you to make yourself the next famous Routledge
