The Iddison Genealogy
I have pieced together the Iddison family tree, family by family and generation by generation over the last 30 years. It has been a painstaking exercise, but one that has given me much pleasure and uncovered an exciting set of family histories set against a back drop of 19th century Yorkshire. The work proceeds and I will continue to publish the histories on this site over the coming months. Please do get in contact if you have corrections, connections or more detail to add.
The surname 'Iddison' is thought to be from the same root as Iddon, Iddins and Ideson. The derivation of Iddon is from Old Norse - ioja (to do, perform) and unna ( to love). The Latinisation is 'Idonea' meaning suitable. The vernacular form was 'Idony'. The earliest written records are of Richard Ideson and Thomas Idonson contained in the Yorkshire Poll Tax returns of 1379.
(ref: "A Dictionary of English Surnames", Reaney & Wilson, Oxford University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-19-860092-5).
In the mid 19th Century, all Iddison family groups were in Yorkshire, mostly the North Riding and some just across the county line into County Durham. You can check the descendant charts for these family groups from the "Charts" menu above. There were 5 main geographic groupings: Bedale, Darlington, Kirkby Malzeard, Leeds and Topcliffe.
There are already some references to famous Iddisons on the web, and I have provided some of these links below alongside their life histories.
Born in Bedale, Yorkshire to Roger & Jane Iddison. His father was a Guano Merchant with a shop in Market Place, Bedale. Roger had a younger brother, William Holdsworth Iddison. Roger was first a butcher by trade, then kept a shop for cricket articles at Manchester (1864). One of the first team of English cricketers who played 15 matches in Australia between 1st January and 22nd March 1862. He played his first match at Lords between 9th and 11th June 1862. In total, Roger played in 27 first class matches and made 1059 runs in 1869. Together with George Freeman he founded the United North of England Eleven in 1869. He was the professional at Harrow School from 1871-2; joint secretary with C.D. Barstow of Yorkshire United Eleven in 1874. A first rate batsman, a good fielder at point and a good lob-bowler. Mr. Iddison was a playing member of the Yorkshire County Cricket Club for many years, and held for some time the position of captain. His figure was also a familiar one in the principal English matches of his time, and in the pursuit of his vocation he was in the service of a number of the leading local clubs of the country. On retiring from active participation in Yorkshire county cricket about 1872, Roger started a shop for the sale of cricket materials, in Blake-street, York, and subsequently became an auctioneer, and as such was very popular with his fellow-citizens and the inhabitants of the surrounding agricultural district. He also was a much respected captain at Malton Curling Club. He died due to an attack of diabetes which had confined him to his house for a few months until his death on 19th March 1890. His funeral was off some note attended by family and friends including representatives from the local and national game and Aldermen from the city of York.
Born in Bedale, Yorkshire to Roger & Jane Iddison. His father was a Guano Merchant with a shop in Market Place, Bedale. William was a younger brother of Roger Iddison, also a cricketer. Unlike his brother Roger (who played for Yorkshire and England), William played for the Red Rose county of Lancashire. He settled eventually in Chorlton, Manchester, married Sarah Ann Thom, a widow (nee Webster), and had many children. He died in the Workhouse in Withington - what is today Withington Hospital.
Hopefully you will find real gems in the hundreds of biographies in the database, which you can access via the indexes above . . . then just have fun browsing through the interlinked pages.