Flemish Roots and Scottish Branches

[William Douglas]

The Rutherfurds, like their cousins the Douglases, trace their ancestry back to West Flanders and to the powerful Erembald family. Other families in Britain who share these roots are the Ypres [Douglas], Furnes, Harnes, Lucy, Hacket and Winter families. The political events of the 11th and 12th centuries within Flanders were to change the lives of these families and push them down a migratory path which began in today's Belgium and ended up in Scotland, Ireland, America, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. The noble families of Flanders were jealous descendants of Charlemagne until the coastal invasions by the Vikings began and military resources in Flanders were stretched dangerously thin.

This article is mainly about the Rutherford family, but there are strong Douglas connections: http://www.clanrutherfurd.org/History.aspx

[Jackie Stoddard]

William the link to this on the facebook page and here is not working

- new link provided W

[William Douglas]

For more on the Flemish Scots, see: http://goo.gl/XOCf9v