.Family History

The dark rolling moors of the Scottish/English border are home to this notable surname Trotter. Its ancient history is closely woven into the rich and beautiful tapestry of the border chronicles.

In-depth research into some of the most ancient manuscripts such as the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, the Inquisition, the Ragman Rolls, the Doomsday Book, baptismals, parish records, tax records and cartularies, gave researchers the first record of the name Trotter in Berwickshire where their first seat was at Prentannan in that shire, and in Durham where Robert Trotter was tenant-in-Chief of King Edward the Confessor in the year 1050.

The name, Trotter, appears in many references, and from time to time, the surname was Trotter, Troter, Trottar, and these changes in spelling frequently occurred within the family name. Scribes and church officials spelt the name as it sounded, and frequently the spelling changed even during the person’s lifetime.

The family name Trotter is believed to be descended from the Boernicians. This ancient founding race of the north were a mixture of Scottish Picts and Angles, a race dating from about the year 400 A.D. By 1000 A.D. this race had formed into discernible Clans and families, perhaps some of the first evidence of the family structure in Britain. From this area we get some of the most impressive names in history, surnames with unique nicknames such as the Sturdy Armstrongs, one of whom was, appropriately, the first to colonise the moon, the Gallant Grahams, the Saucy Scotts, the Angry Kerrs, the Bells, the Nixons, the famous Dicksons, the Bold Rutherfords, the Pudding Somervilles, and most of the names ending in "son".

From these fighting clans of the border the surname Trotter was found in Berwickshire, where the Trotters had the distinction of being listed as "Gentleman of the Border". Their relationships with the Kerrs sometimes friendly sometimes otherwise were of note. By the year 1370 they were granted lands by King Robert of Mortonhall near Edinburgh, still retaining their lands in Berwick. In 1570 Alexander Trotter led his clan to Jedburgh, and along with the Scotts, Dixons, and Redpaths, put the torch to the town. The March Warden later used the same clans to disperse the large and influential Humes from their fortresses. Because they also held lands and estates in Durham, England, they frequently trod a very narrow line in their loyalties. In 1479 they defended an accusation of treason before Scottish Parliament. In Durham their seat was at Byers Hall, and in Yorkshire at Skelton Castle. Junior branches of the Trotters were at Helmington Hall in Durham, Horton Manor in Surrey, and north of the border at Kettleshiel in Berwick, Bush in Edinburgh, Catchelraw in Berwick, and in Roxburghshire in the Merse. William Trotter was recorded to have fallen at the Battle of Flodden, and his gold ring was found on the site of the Battle. This distinguished family intermarried with some of the most notable of all British families including the Barons, Aton, Umfraville and Kyne. Their lands in Scotland were forfeited for their adherence in 1715 and 1745 to the Stuart cause. They suffered long imprisonment in Edinburgh and Carlisle Castles. Notable amongst the family name during the early history was Robert Trotter , scion of the family.

The Clans or families to the north of the border became Scottish after the year 1000 AD, and to the south they became English. Nevertheless, despite the border, many would still be united clans, but strangely loyal to the defence of their respective countries.

Clan feuds became so intense that in 1246 AD, 6 Chiefs from the Scottish side and 6 from the English side met at Carlisle and created a set of laws for all the border territory. These were unlike any laws prevailing in England or Scotland or, for that matter, anywhere else in the world. For refusal of assistance when called a person could be hanged on the instant, without a trial. While clans were on this "hot trod" to recover stolen property, ( from which we get the modern expression "hot to trot" ), they were protected from almost all eventualities.

In 1603, the crowns of Scotland and England unified under James VI of Scotland who found it expedient to dispense the "unruly border clans". The Border Clans were dispersed to England, northern Scotland and to Ireland. Some were banished directly to the Colonies.

In Ireland, they were granted lands previously held by Catholic Irish. They signed an "Undertaking" to remain Protestant and faithful to the Crown. There is no evidence that the family name Trotters migrated to Ireland, but this does not preclude the possibility of their scattered migration to that country.

The New World beckoned and the many settlers in Ireland, known as the Scottish/Irish, became disenchanted. They sailed aboard the armada of sailing ships known as the "White Sails" which plied the stormy Atlantic. Some called them, less romantically, the "coffin ships". Amongst the first pioneered who could be considered kinsmen of the family name Trotter, of that same Clan or family, was John and Joanne Trotter who settled in Virginia in 1653; George and his wife Mary settled in the Barbados in 1684; James Trotter settled in New Hampshire in 1718.

These pioneers became the nucleus of the first settlements from Maine to the Cumberland Gap. They provided much of the stock which produced the early presidents and governors of the United States. In Canada, they settled in Nova Scotia, the St Lawrence and the Ottawa Valley.

The family name Trotter, provided many prominent contemporaries, Neville Trotter, MP

The most ancient grant of a Coat of Arms researched was:

Silver with an ermine stripe at the top, and over all a blue lion.

The Crest was:

A lions head.

The ancient family Motto for this distinguished name was:

"Fortis Non Ferox"

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