WELCOME to my ROTHERY profile page

Curiosity began my amazing journey delving into the ROTHERY magic.

My interest in the ROTHERY last name began in 1973 with a hand-written circular chart[1] – in the middle was Henry Steel ROTHERY my great x 2 grandfather. I pondered what motivated his emigration from Cumberland in England to Canterbury in New Zealand with a young family of four children? He lost his first wife to a ‘burial at sea’ on the perilous voyage half-way across the world arriving in Dunedin first before moving to the Canterbury region where other Cumberland settlers had made their homes. My genealogy journey began.

The aim of the ROTHERY One-Name Study is to collect family history data; to share that data with others researching the ROTHERY name or its variants/versions and preserve the data for future generations.

The objectives are to:

• identify, collect & collate data and make it available to other ROTHERY researchers
• encourage the exchange of data with other researchers who are willing to share
• facilitate communication between ROTHERY ‘cousins’
• develop ROTHERY family trees.

I registered the ROTHERY last name study with the Guild in 1998.

I completed the Pharos ‘Introduction to One-Name Studies’ course in 2009.

[1] Chart prepared by Maude GILL, NZ. Thank you Maude – what a lifetime journey this has been.

Majority of the 38 variants/versions for the last name ROTHERY have been taken from the 1992 IGI^[1] for each county in England and a few from the Lamplugh Parish Registers in Cumberland (now Cumbria), England.  A list is available on request.

^[1]1992 International Genealogical Index produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints.

The ROTHERY last name appears predominantly in Cumberland and Yorkshire, both counties in England since at least the 16^th century.

A five-page article on the Origins is available on request.

I only ask that you attribute authorship if you copy.

ROTHERYs of note[1]

Long ago

• Nicholas Phillips ROTHERY (1755-1846)[2] English, purser and alleged secretary to Lord Nelson [unseen letter in NSW purporting to be from Lord Nelson]
• William ROTHERY (1775-1864?)[3] English, chief of the office of the King’s proctor in Doctor’s Commons - barrister to Lords of Treasury
• William Montagu ROTHERY (1809-1899) English, pioneer NSW Australia, magistrate
• Henry Cadogan ROTHERY (1817-1888)[4] English, lawyer and commissioner of wrecks
• William R(obert) Cadogan ROTHERY (1860-1937) English, artist
• Guy Cadogan ROTHERY (1863-1940) English, author
• William Hume-ROTHERY (1899-1968)[5] English, metallurgist and author.

Historical occupations

Historically ROTHERYs in Cumberland have been yeoman, farmers or shepherds, a smattering of mining occupations and stone masons. The 1881 census statistics suggest Yorkshire ROTHERYs were coal miners, weavers, spinners & dyers which would support the industrialised nature of Yorkshire towns and cities of the time.

[1] If you know of other ROTHERYs of note, please provide details and evidence to support.

[2] Listed as purser, seniority 15 Sep 1777 in A list of masters, medical officers, and pursers of his majesty’s fleet, and pursers of his majesty’s fleet from the Royal Navy and cited as leasing land in Addison Road nr Uxbridge Road in London and Lambeth http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=49870

[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Rothery

[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Cadogan_Rothery

[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hume-Rothery

The ROTHERY name is not common. There are discrepancies between databases on the frequency of the name in the 1881 census for England and Wales which numbers from 1,104 to 1,139 to 1,811 [1] for a count only. Using the first count of 1,104, ROTHERY is ranked 3,622 with a frequency of 0.004% – few people indeed with the last name in that census.

[1] http://www.britishsurnames.co.uk/surname/rothery/1881census & https://www.findmypast.co.uk  & https://www.ancestry.co.uk 

The most populous counties in the 1881 census for the ROTHERY last name in England and Wales were: Yorkshire 688, Cumberland 177, Lancashire 53, London 36 and Surrey 34. Counties with 20-30 ROTHERYs were Cheshire, Co. Durham and Westmorland.[1]

[1] http://www.britishsurnames.co.uk/surname/rothery/1881census

At present the most detailed data held is for ROTHERYs originating in what was Cumberland, now Cumbria with a repository of data for the county of Yorkshire, both in England.

Other data held is:

• majority of the General Register Office entries since 1837 for births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales
• census data from 1841 to 1911
• some wills and probates
• some Parish Registers
• some transcriptions of monumental inscriptions [headstones].

Most data has been used in creating family trees including the Commonwealth countries of Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa.

I am always interested in adding to this data. Any contribution no matter how small would be gratefully received.