I registered the Done One-Name Study in 2017.  My interest in the Done surname comes from researching my great great grandmother Martha Done (1808-1889) whose family moved from Saighton in the parish of Bruera, Cheshire to become tenant farmers at Burton Hall, near Rossett, Denbighshire in the 1760s.  My aim in my own family history research was to link the family to the main Done line from Utkinton near Tarporley, Cheshire. This I was able to prove when the Cheshire Collection of records became available online at Find my Past.

The aim of my study is to research the families with the surname Done and and to link as many families as I can main Done line of Utkinton, Tarporley.  Also if they are not linked how they came by the Done surname.  The Done family of Utkinton were Master Foresters of Delamere Forest (Forest of Mara and Mondrum), Cheshire and inherited this office from through the marriage of Joan (or Jane) daughter of Richard de Kingsleigh, hereditary Chief Forester of Mara and Mondrum to Henry Done c1216.  The line can be traced back to Richard Done (1190-1240)

Done is the predominant name in the UK.  I have registered two variants the surnames Doan and Doane.  The surname Doane is the form that is predominant in North America.   Other variants maybe Donne, Doon, Doun and Dwnn in Wales.

The surname appears to be topographical in origin, related to a geographical feature, namely a hill, a down or a dune. So given to a person whose residence was on the slope of a hill.  Physically Utkinton in Cheshire does have a feature of a hill.  The surname is pronounced to rhyme with Bone.

Richard Done, Lord of Utkinton (1190-1240)

Sir John Done (b c1420) Slain at the Battle of Bloreheath near Market Draton, Shropshire

Sir John Done (1577-1629) Knighted by King James 1 at Utkinton Hall in 1617

According to the 1881 census there were 1026 but the total varies in the sources and I seen 1029 and 1032 recorded.  This I have attributed to mistranscription of the surname as in other census I have identified Done/Doan entries as Dove,  Dean and even Sloan.

The Surname Atlas by Archer Software based on the 1881 Census shows the following distribution

Cheshire 287

Lancashire 199

Staffordshire 118

Shropshire 99

Worcestershire 62

Warwickshire 40

Yorkshire 29

Middlesex 29

Kent 25

Wales 29

Scotland 3

Other counties less than 25 and mainly single figures

At present I am concentrating on collecting data mainly rom census returns, parish registers and wills in the following English counties Cheshire, Lancashire, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Kent and Wales. 

I have the following  databases

Civil Registration BMDs from 1837-1983

Census Index 1841-1911 (in progress)

National Probate Index 1858-2019

Probate Index for PCC, Lichfield Diocese and Wales

Reconstructed family trees for 3500 individuals