<< CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER PIC >>

South-eastern British Columbia, Canada is home to Todhunter Creek...

By: Judy Rosmus (nee: Todhunter)

When I have looked in surname books for the origin of the name Todhunter I have found that English surname books say Todhunter is Scottish and Scottish surname books say the name is English. I think part of the reason is that in Scotland our name was a profession. It was not until surnames were granted in the 1500’s that the profession of tod hunter became the English surname Todhunter. The following letter that I received from Col. John F. Todhunter, Family Historian in Suffolk, England – 4 August 1982 may help to explain the confusion. I was eventually able to track down an address for Col John, but never received a response to my letter. The following is the details of his letter outlining the meaning of the surname Todhunter:

“Todhunter is a name of occupation which originated in Scotland. Todhunters were originally, tod hunter, “tod” being the Scottish name for a fox. Probably every Scottish clan had its own tod hunter, whose job it was to trap and kill the big Highland foxes, which wrought havoc among the clans’ sheep and lambs. It was considered an honorable and skilled occupation. Before the incidence of surnames, clansmen in the Scottish clans bore a first, or given name, and in addition the name of their clan chief. Consequently, in the clan Stuart, for instance, a man named Hamish would be known as Hamish Stuart. When this became muddling owing to several of the same name, they would be distinguished by where they lived. If they had a recognized appointment in the clan, they would probably be known by this. For instance, the tod hunter, of which profession there would probably be only on e in a clan, would be known as Hamish Stuart the tod hunter, and if, in a large clan, there did happen to be more than one tod hunter he would be differentiated as Hamish Stuart the tod hunter of Glentruim.

In addition to being tod hunters, they were, of course, all fighting men, and when Robert the Bruce gathered the clans in the early 14th century to advance into England, the tod hunters followed his with the rest of their clan in the invasion of Northumberland and Cumberland. The Bruce crossed the border in 1315 and the clans remained in the north of England without really doing much harm until 1328, when under the treaty of Northampton, the Bruce was recognized as King of Scotland. It seems probable that during these years of changing fortunes, many of the clansmen occupying the northern counties would have married local English girls. When the Scots withdrew, many clansmen having married and had children decided to remain in Cumbira. A particularly large number of Tod hunters decided to remain because their services were in great demand. The whole economy of Cumbria at the time was based on sheep, and the tod hunters were in great demand to keep down the hill foxes. Moreover, as they worked professionally for local sheep farmers, they were paid for it, which they never did when they were tod hunters of a Scottish Clan! The fact that it was considered a skilled and highly paid profession is indicated by the fact that in the reign of Henry 8th, in the early 16th century, about 150 years later, the fee payable to a tod hunter was 12 pence per fox’s head which was a lot of money. Gradually the use of surnames began to become widespread, and in due course, John the tod hunter, became John Todhunter. The surname first appeared in Cumbria in the early 14th century and it still flourishes there. In the 15th century there were 11 adjoining farms between the town of Penrith and Keswick in Cumbria (18 miles) all occupied by Todhunters and there were many more farming further afield.”

A google search www.surnamedb.com/surname.aspx?name=Todhunter confirmed the payment for fox heads during the reign of Henry VIII. “The derivation was from the Old English work “todde”, meaning a fox, with the fused work of “hunter”, a derivative of “huntian”, meaning to hunt. A tod hunter it is said was paid by the local parish to keep down pests and vermin as well as foxes. Job descriptive surnames originally denoted the occupation of the name bearer, and only later became hereditary when a son followed his gather into the same line of business. Under a statute of King Henry VIII (1509-1547), a tod hunter was given twelve pence per fox-head from the parish warden.

I also received a letter from a James Todhunter Jun 5, 1995. His version of the origins of the name is “All Todhunters spring from one ancestor whose father emigrated from Europe to Scotland. Totenhurst was the original name. He was a war mercenary in Europe who raised war dogs; 300 pound mastiffs that wore chain mail on their backs and who were sent out first to break up an enemy’s formation. They would take their instructions from toots on a small horn. Totenhurst, in Scotland, used they system to train hunting dogs.

He was so renowned for being the man to see for a guaranteed good hunt, some member of the Royal House changed his name to Todhunter. It was his profession, and by decree, no one but a blood relative could take that name.

(Johns brother Mark got this information from a small private college in Cumberland during a trip there in the early 1970’s.)