The Dootsons in Bolton

I have tried to fix all my research to known facts about the family and our ancestors, but inevitably there has been some inference and guesswork. I have made some educated assumptions based on the facts that I know for certain and links between places and occupations. My grandfather, Will Dootson, always told me that his father’s family came from Leigh in Lancashire and the Dootson name and its variants can be seen in parish records in Bolton from 6 Jun 1636, when Sarah, daughter of Adam Doodsonn of Kersley, was baptised. Yet further back, in the records of St Mary the Virgin, Leigh, Elizabeth Dooson was baptised on 11 July 1596. In Atherton many of the Dootson baptisms are of illegitimate children, such as William Dootson, base-born son of Martha of Atherton, baptised 17 November 1712.[1] An analysis of surnames in the 1881 census shows that, while there were 5 people called Dootson living in Surrey, every other incidence of the name occurred in Lancashire (437 people).[2]

[1] The searchable index to Lancashire Parish records is an invaluable source for researching this part of the world. http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/indexp.html

[accessed 26 May 2019]

[2] https://forebears.io/surnames/dootson

[accessed 9 May 2019]