Leatherland was my maternal grandfather’s surname. I began research into my Leatherland ancestry more than thirty years ago and my ancestors have possibly been traced back to a mid 17th century Northamptonshire family, although there are some brick walls along the way.

I have been informally studying the Leatherland surname for many years, but my one name study is helping me to formalise and structure this. I have already carried out considerable research including family reconstruction particularly in Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and Leicestershire, but now is the time to expand this to other English counties and worldwide.

My aims are :

(1)          To gather and publish data on the name and its variants

(2)          To analyse the name’s geographical distribution and how this changed over time

(3)          To reconstruct the families of as many surname holders as I can where this possible

(4)          To study patterns of immigration and emigration

The surname Leatherland probably originated as Litherland. Early parish registers show various spelling permutations. For example, the baptisms of the children of my earliest possible ancestors between 1652 and 1668 spell the surname as Leitherland, Leithorland, Lithorland and Lethorland. By the 18th century most of their descendants appear as Leatherland so this version seems to have stabilised at least in Northamptonshire and Warwickshire. There are many examples from 19th century censuses of Litherland  evolving to Letherland or Leatherland for the same individuals in later censuses.

I have registered the variants Leitherland, Letherland, Litherland and Lytherland.

Leatherland is probably a locative name originating from the Lancashire town of Litherland.  It does not appear in most surname dictionaries, except the Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland which confirms my theory.

The Lancashire Victoria County History shows that the history of the town of Litherland extends back at least to the 11th century, indeed it includes a reference to a Randle de Litherland who held land there by 1212, who may be one of the first bearers of the name (unless his name was a byname).  Of course this also means that - as with most locational surnames - some medieval Litherlands may not be related to each other.

Richard McKinley’s study of Lancashire surnames has a reference to a Letherland in the Liverpool Oath Rolls (1696) who was from Litherland. He points out that locative surnames are the largest surname category in Lancashire, which has been the case since the 13th century, and that the county has a higher proportion of locative surnames than most English counties.  

There is no evidence of a link to leather workers.  The ‘land’ suffix implies that the surname is locational rather than occupational.  But the spelling may have developed to begin with Leather- or Lether- simply because it was a more familiar term than Lither-.

Lord Charles Edward Leatherland (1898 – 1992) was my maternal grandfather. He was a Daily Herald journalist for thirty years, becoming Assistant Editor. He was also an Alderman on Essex County Council, where he became closely involved in the foundation of Essex University becoming its first Treasurer. He became a Labour Party Life Peer in 1964. 

Dr Joseph Letherland (1698- 1764) was an eminent 18th century doctor who became physician to Queen Charlotte, wife of George III, between 1761 and 1764.  He studied at Leiden University and practised at St Thomas's Hospital, London, from 1736 to 1758. He is reputed to have been the first doctor to draw attention to the disease diphtheria.

John Leatherland was probably a diplomat or trader in Constantinople in 1685. A distant possible descendant has a leather pouch inscribed with his name and this date and a portrait. 

John Ayre Leatherland (1812-1874) was a weaver from Kettering who became a prominent Chartist. He later wrote an autobiography (one of the few 19th century working class men to do so) and became a newspaper reporter.

Emeritus Professor John Leatherland of Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, is a graduate of Sheffield University. He is an expert in comparative endocrinology, who founded and edited the international journal Fish Physiology and Biochemistry and has written books on fish diseases.

Ernest Letherland was an athlete from Nottingham who represented Britain in the marathon in the 1924 Olympics.

Elizabeth Leatherland was an elderly resident of Tring, Hertfordshire, whose claim to have reached the age of 111 was widely publicised in 1873. In 1853 her eldest son, Samuel Leatherland, together with his wife, four adult daughters and two infant grandchildren, all drowned when a bridge over a river in Hartlake, Kent collapsed. The disaster was widely featured in the press. The family were gypsies.

Peter Litherland (1756–1805) was a British watchmaker and inventor who worked in Liverpool. In 1791 he patented the rack lever escapement for watches.

Bob Litherland (1930–2011) was a Labour MP for eighteen years.

James Litherland (born 1949), was a British singer and guitarist best known as a founding member of progressive rock group Colosseum.

Leatherland is a rare surname. The 1881 Census Surname Atlas has 323 occurrences of Leatherland. Litherland is more common (680). There are 61 Letherland, 19 Leverland, and 22 scarcer variants (all with single figure occurrences).

There are only 25 Leatherland and variant wills in the PCC Wills index (1384-1858). There are 807 results in the National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1995).

The Forebears website suggests that Leatherland is the 304,684th most common surname worldwide today, with 942 name holders in England, 111 in USA, 74 in Australia, and 53 in Canada. This site suggests that Litherland is slightly more common (128,777th most common surname) with 1,484 name holders in England, 1,421 in the USA, and 275 in Australia.

Litherland is found predominantly in Lancashire. In the 1881 census Surname Atlas 430 out of 680 Litherland occurrences are found in Lancashire.

Leatherland is found predominantly in Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire, with a lesser concentration in Northamptonshire and Warwickshire.

The name and variants are rare in the rest of the country.

These results support the theory that the surname is derived from Litherland in Lancashire but that, when Litherlands moved south to the Midlands, variants developed, possibly because priests and clerks were unfamiliar with the place name. But in Lancashire the name generally remained as Litherland.

Since beginning the One Name Study in March 2025, I have carried out extensive research using Civil Registration indexes (1837 to 1997), censuses from 1841 to 1921, the 1939 Register, 16th and 17th century parish register indexes, and will indexes.  I have also begun research into US, Canadian and Australian records.

Using Free BMD, I found 6,066 birth registrations, 4,275 marriages and 3,909 death registrations. Two thirds are Litherland registrations, one third Leatherland. Leatherland is predominantly found in Nottinghamshire (around 40% of the total). Litherland is most common in Lancashire (around 50% of the total). Census data shows a similar pattern. The censuses also show the rarity of the surnames.  For example, in 1861 there were 741 Leatherland / Litherland and variants which was 0.003% of the total population of 23 million. 

16th/17th parish register data from FindMyPast and Ancestry shows a greater variation in surname spelling, eg out of 180 baptisms,  Litherland  comprised 42% of the total, then Letherland( 23%) then Lytherland ( 21%). I found only one Leatherland baptism. Lancashire was the top county for baptisms, marriages and burials, reinforcing the theory that the name derived from the town of Litherland.

I have taken the Ancestry autosomal DNA test which produced distant 3rd or 4th cousin matches, but I have not yet explored these in any depth. 

I have an old Leatherland ancestry website www.leatherlandancestry.info which concentrates on my own ancestry but includes some articles on wider research into the surname.

I intend to create a Guild member website in due course.