02.25.06

Dykes / Dyke Surname Origins

Posted in Site News at 3.23 pm by daniel

I’ve had this for sometime now, and on the last incarnation of DanielDykes.com it was certainly one of the most view articles so certainly worth getting back up again!

The Dykes Family
This family appears to have been at an early period located near the Great Roman Wall, or Dyke, which crossed the country from the mouth of the Tyne to the Solway Firth; and from this circumstance they were named Del Dykes, and their abode was called Dykesfield. They are said to have been seated here before the Norman Conquest. A branch of the family at an early period removed into Sussex, and another was settled in Kent.

The earliest portion of the line is lost in the mists of antiquity. A charter without date, but supposed to be of the time of Henry III or Edward II, notifies the fact that Robert Del Dykes conveyed some land which he possessed at Burgh, to one William del Monkys.

The first name on the unbroken genealogical roll is that of William del Dykes, who lived about the time of Edward I.

This family name descended through the six succeeding generations. William del Dykes, the sixth of the name, represented the county in Parliament, in the reign of Henry IV. He received the manor and lands at Wardhall (still in the family) from one Robert Whitehede. He married Elizabeth, daughter of William de Leigh, of Isel, who claimed her descent from Emma, sister to William the Conqueror, and Harlowen de Conteville, or de Burgo, who could trace his pedigree in the direct male line to Charles, Duke of Ingleheim, fifth son of Charlemagne.

He was succeeded by his son, William Dykes, of Wardhall, who married Christiana, daughter of Sir Richard Salkeld, of Corby.

Thomas Dykes, of Wardhall, his son, lived in the reign of Henry VII, and married Isabel, only child and heiress of John Pennington, Esq., of Muncaster Castle, son and heir of Sir John Pennington.

His son, Leonard Dykes, succeeded, and had by his wife, a daughter of John Layton, Esq., of Dalemayne, [presumably Dalemain] a son, Thomas, who succeeded him, and was escheator of Westmorland, in the time of Queen Elizabeth. His wife was Jane, daughter of Lancelot Lancaster, Esq., of Sockbridge, who was descended from Ivo de Tailbois, first baron of Kendal, and uncle of Geoffrey Plantagenet, father of Henry II.

Leonard Dykes married Elizabeth Ann, heiress of Thomas Radcliffe, Esq., of Mayland and Bishopton, in Durham, for which he was arraigned for treason, she being at the time a minor and a ward in Chancery. He received a pardon, under the great seal, which is still preserved among the family papers. He was sheriff of Cumberland, and held the office of treasurer to the king’s forces for the county. He married a second time Margaret, daughter and co-heir of John Frecheville, of Staveley.

His son, Thomas, by the first wife, succeeded. He was a devoted Royalist. He married Joyce Frecheville, daughter and co-heir of John Frecheville. This lady was descended in a direct line from the Conqueror. His second wife was Jane, daughter of Ralph de la Vale, Esq.

Leonard Dykes succeeded his father, in the reign of Charles II, and married Grace, daughter of John Salkeld, of Threapland, who also traced her descent from the Conqueror. He was twice sheriff of the county, and rebuilt his mansion with an ornamental stone front, designed by Inigo Jones, architect of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London.[This is wrong - St. Paul’s was designed by Sir Christopher Wren].

Frecheville Dykes, his son and heir, married, in 1697, Jane, sister of Gilfrid Lawson, and was succeeded in the estates by his son, Leonard Dykes, who married, in 1728, Susannah, only surviving child of the Rev. Thomas Capstack, vicar of Newburn.

Their eldest son, Frecheville Dykes, of Wardhall, companion in arms of General Wolfe, married, in 1763, Mary, daughter of John Brougham, Esq., of Cockermouth, and also heiress of her brother, Peter Brougham, of Dovenby, who assumed the name and arms of Lamplugh. There was only one surviving child of this marriage, Mary, consequently her uncle, the younger brother of her father, inherited the estates. His wife, Jane, was the daughter and heiress of John Ballantine, Esq., of Crookdake Hall, and he took the name and arms of Ballantine, in addition to his own, by sign manual.

Their eldest son and successor, Joseph Dykes Ballantine, Esq., married his cousin, Mary, only surviving child of Frecheville Dykes, as before mentioned, and assumed again the name of Dykes by sign manual. The Trustees of L.F.B. Dykes, Esq., of Dovenby Hall, are now the representatives.

Source: Steve Bulman’s Images of Cumbria - Famous Sons and Daughters most likely sourced from Bulmer’s History & Directory Of Cumberland, 1901.

Permalink