The family name Dufton originates from the village of Dufton in the old English county of Westmorland.


About the year 670 a group of Angle farmers travelled across the fells and moors from the English kingdom of Northumbria, and settled in small clusters of farms along the fellside of the Eden valley. One of their settlements was called Dufton, from the old English words DUF meaning dove, and TON meaning farmstead.

Hence..... Dufton the place of doves.

The first record of a person having the name Dufton was Robert de Dufton who lived in the village of Dufton in 1176. Robert was in trouble with King Henry for not defending nearby Appleby castle when it was captured by the Scot's army in 1174. Robert's name appears on the Westmorland pipe rolls, and he is fined 40 shillings by the king.


Robert de Dufton recorded in 1176

Robert's son John de Dufton was rewarded by King John for supporting him in troubled times, he was granted the manor and barony of Dufton. But John de Dufton's son, Robert de Dufton was outlawed by King Edward. However, Robert's son Humphrey de Dufton fared even worse, he was hanged by the king.