"Fie Fi Fo Fum, I Smell the Blood of an Englishman:" The English Surnames on my O'Rourke - Salmon Tree

The knowledge that my Grandmother, Margaret Jane Salmon O’Rourke, could assert that she was a “quarter English” (per her own words) had been quite an exciting revelation all those years ago.  For me, the English culture appeared very much like a comfortable old friend and so I welcomed the news with open arms!  

“Why?” you might ask. Well, I speculate it stems from being required to study and learn about English history, government, and language for most of my life.  Since the USA is undeniably one of mother England’s children, their histories have been paralleling and entwining since the landing of the pilgrims at the now infamous Plymouth Rock.  (As yet, I have found no direct ancestor who sailed on the Mayflower itself. However, since a couple of men named “Halliburton” were on the ship a chance may still exist!) 

The myriads of books that I have read since being a young child repeatedly took place in England itself or with the English hero/heroine living or traveling to some foreign exotic destination.  One of my favorite reads included the genre known as “Regency romance” where the beautiful peasant always fell in love and married a Duke, Baron, or member of the Royal family forever ending their commoner existence.  The Beatles, Dave Clark Five, Petula Clark, Duran Duran, Herman’s Hermits, The Rolling Stones, to name just a few of the  musicians who were part of the “British invasion” and changed the world with their rock and roll beat for eternity.  Their music made me sing and dance long before I ever danced my first Irish jig or Czech polka!   Now you see why I am so happy to claim English heritage as well!  

So let’s take a moment to look at the English surnames that populate by Grandmother Margaret Jane Salmon O’Rourke’s tree:  Dodgson, Halliburton, Little, Nixon, Phillips, Routledge, Wilson, and Salmon.   I am happy to report that these English lines have been a lot easier to track down than the Irish ones.  Once I discovered that my 2^nd Great Grandfather John Little’s place of birth in 1834 was at Mallsgate, Stapleton, Cumberland, England, the great English wall went tumbling down with a roar.  

Between 1851 -1860, John emigrated from England, the first of my “direct line” to do so.   He lived on the coastal islands of Texas where he married Henrietta Augusta Gregory (1830 – 1920) (full Irish ancestry) in Calhoun County, Texas in 1869, and died at Rockport, Aransas, Texas in 1895.  

The farthest back I can take this Little line with complete sourcing is to John and Jane Phillips Little. Jane Phillips was born in 1740 and died in 1797 in Stapleton, England.  She married John Little on 22 December 1865 in Stapleton becoming Margaret’s 3^rd (my 5^th) Great-grandparents.  The birth date of John is in question at this time. A christening record for the Church of England dated 1712 exists might be for him.  It shows his parent’s names as William and Ann Little.  If this is true, then we can take the Little family back another generation. On the other hand since there is literally a Little under ever bush in England, I must confirm this fact to be certain.

The Halliburton family comes into the tree two generations back for Margaret when Elizabeth Halliburton (circa 1769 to 1833), married George Little (1766 – 1834,) the grandparents to John Little.   Elizabeth was the daughter of Robert (circa 1723 – 1797) and Janet Halliburton (1736 – 1797,) both of Bewcastle.  George and Elizabeth lived there for many many years at the family residence known as Mallsgate located in the Stapleton area.  A plethora of letters written by George and other members of the family from 1800 onward have survived which have chronicled brief snippets of their lives  so well. 

As of this date, I can trace the Routledge family back the farthest to Margaret’s 5^th Great-grandparents (my 7^th) William and Francis Little Routledge (dates unknown.)  William had been born circa 1659 at Addingham, Cumberland, England, and died in 1700 at his residence known as Flatt in Bewcastle.  Their son John Routledge, her 4th (my 2^nd) Great-grandfather (1690 – unknown) married Elizabeth Dodgson (1682 – 1784) on 11 May 1710 in Stapleton, both of whom had lived their entire life and died at Bewcastle.

John and Elizabeth’s son Christopher Routledge was born in 1774 at Flatt, in Bewcastle, and died in 1851 at Stapleton.  He married Ann Nixon (1774 – 1846,) daughter of James Nixon (1735 – 1827) and Elizabeth Wilson Nixon (1740 – 1807,) her 5^th (my 3^rd) Great-grandparents.  (I wonder if we are related to the U.S. presidents Richard Nixon or Woodrow Wilson.  Definitely something to research, don’t you think?)

Grandmother Margaret Salmon O’Rourke was so proud of her “Spanish blood” as she so quaintly put it.  There is a Spanish line somewhere on the tree but as of yet, the surname has not been determined. “Salmon” is not it as so strongly believed by Grandmother.  In fact, its’ roots are English and one of the oldest tracing back to a man named “Salomon” in England’s Doomsday Book in 1056 A. D.  Her Salmon line is a lot more complicated so I will need more information before I can truly place its origin properly.  The known facts are that her Grandfather Benigno Salmon (the earliest generation known) was born in Malaga, Spain in 1841 to an “Irish father” and a “Spanish mother” proving that I must go back another generation to find it. So I have placed Salmon here on the list of English surnames at this time. 

Thomasina Mary Ann Bell, 1st cousin taken in England c. 1872.

The following chart lists the English surnames on Margaret Salmon O’Rourke’s family tree (and mine!) It is not an etymology of the names (that will come later). Instead the chart shows each surname as the family uses it now,  a few variants of the name, the countries and county of origin, and finally, the last known residence of my own particular family member before immigrating to the USA. 

	Variant Spellings	Counties Where Name is/was Most Common	Our Family's Last Residence in the Mother Country
DODSON	Dodgshon Dodgshun	England: Cumberland (now known as Cumbria) Lancanshire	-Bewcastle, Cumberland, England
HALLIBURTON	Haliburton Hallyburton Allerburton	Scotland: Berkwickshire England: Cumberland (now Cumbria)	-Stapleton,  Cumberland, England
LITTLE	Littell Lytle Lyttle	England: Cumberland (now known as Cumbria)	-Stapleton, Cumberland, England
NIXON	Nixson Nickson Nycson	England: Cumberland (now known as Cumbria) Scotland	-Bewcastle, Cumberland, England
PHILLIPS	Phelip Phelps Phelippes Philops	England: Cumberland (now known as Cumbria)	-Stapleton, Cumberland, England
ROUTLEDGE	Rutledge Rudledge Rodledge Routlage	England: Cumberland (now known as Cumbria)	-Bewcastle, -Stapleton, Cumberland, England
SALMON	Salmen Solomon Sammon Salmonde Sulmundr	England Ireland Spain	- Madrid and Malaga, Spain
WILSON	Willeson	England: Cumberland County (now known as Cumbria) Yorkshire	-Bewcastle, Cumberland, England

A family tree like a real tree never stops growing!  And I am so excited  about going further back on all the lines to discover more family lines and surnames to add!

I will keep you updated as I do.