In 1890, Henry Brougham Guppy. M.B. (Edin.), published his ‘Homes of Family Names in Great Britain’. This is part of his entry for the county of Dorset
The present family of RIDOUT, of the vicinity of Blandford, possess namesakes or kinsmen in the Rideonts of Shrowton of last century. About a hundred years ago the Rev. P. Rideout, of Hooks Wood, Farnham, owned a farm in Ewern Minster (Hutchins’ “Dorsetshire”).
The Dorset name of ROSS is probably a variation of Russ, a name that has characterised the adjacent county of Wilts for many centuries
SAMWAYS is an old Dorset name. There seem to have been two or three principal stocks. In the first place, there was a gentle family of the name in Beaminster 200 years ago; and there was a family of Samways of Broadway in the 17th century that attained some note, and sprang from Henry Samways of Bincombe, who lived about the beginning of the 16th century (Hutchins’ “Dorsetshire”). The family of Samways, of Toller Fratrum and Winterbourne St. Martin, in the 17th century, claimed descent from John Samways, of Dorchester, who lived in the middle of the previous century (Hutchins’ “Dorsetshire”). Robert Samwise was chief magistrate of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis in 1517 (Ellis’s “Weymouth & Melcombe Regis”). Samways is still a Wey mouth and a Dorchester name
The Dorsetshire SCUTTS may represent the Somersetshire Scotts, but the name as such has long characterised Dorsetshire. Skutt was the name of eleven mayors of Poole from 1621 to 1742 (Sydenham’s “Poole”)., and as Scutt it still occurs in the town
The SHUTES of Gillingham bear the name of an old Devonshire family and of a Devonshire parish
A family of SENIOR lived in Marnhull last century (Hutchins’ “Dorsetshire”), and still reside there
The SPICERS lived in Bishop’s Candle or Caundle Bishop last century (Hutchins’ “Dorsetshire”), and still reside there. Several of the mayors of Exeter bore this name from the 16th to the 18th century (Izacke’s “Exeter”)
Several of the mayors of Bideford, Devon, in the 17th century, bore the name of STRANGE (Watkins’ “Bideford”)
SPURRIER was the name of seven mayors of Poole during last century (Sydenham’s “Poole”). It is now rare in the county
Joseph SWAFFIELD was the name of the chief magistrate of Weymouth in 1745, 1752, and 1764 (Ellis’s “Weymouth & Melcombe Regis”)
In 1588, John STUDLEY of Petersham, gent, gave #25 to the fund collected for the national defence against the Spanish Armada. A family of this name owned Wantsley farm in Broad Windsor two centuries ago (Hutchins’ “Dorsetshire”), and the name is still in the district. Studley is the name of places in the counties of Wilts, Oxford, etc
SYMES, which is at present well represented around Dorchester, is an old Dorset name. In the 17th century a family of Symes resided at and owned property in East Melplash in Netherbury; but last century the family lived also in Beaminster, one of them, Richard Symes, barrister-at-law, who died in 1783, being a great lover of antiquities (Hutchins’ “Dorsetshire”). The name is still in Netherbury and Beaminster.
The Dorset family of TOPP probably belong to the ancient Wiltshire family of Topp, now extinct, that held the manor of Stockton in Wilts from before the Reformation until the close of last century, when it passed by marriage into the possession of Robert Balch, Esq., of St. Audries, Somerset (Hoare’s “Wilts”).
The TROWBRIDGES evidently took their name from the well- known Wiltshire town;
whilst the WAREHAMS similarly derived their name from a town in Dorsetshire. Hutchins gives the pedigree of an ancient family of Warham of Osmington
A family named WHITTLE lived in Stourton Caundel last century; John Whittle was a churchwarden there in 1786 (Hutchins’ “Dorsetshire”).
