Danish Connection

I've been attempting to trace the family's roots, but it is a long and hard task - all extra information will be gratefully received.

*A Professor of English Language and Medieval English Literature suggested some years ago that our name was very probably of Old English/Old Danish origin: baer/baerlic (barley) and thorp/throp (outlying farm or settlement).

It is my belief that the Bartrop surname has it's origins in Denmark, in a town called Battrup (although the link is tenuous at the moment). According to Agner Thomsen who is a resident of the town, it was called Bartrop in 1484, after which it has been Bartrum, Bartrup, Batterup and finally Battrup.

The earliest mention I can find of a variation of the Bartrop name dates before 1600, along with many other variations of spelling e.g.. Bartrope, Barthorpe, Barthrop, Bartrip and others.

The surname seems to arrive in this area in the late 1500s to early 1600s, in an area east of Worksop in Nottinghamshire, in the villages of Treswell, Walkeringham and Leverton.

Follow the link to see a map of the area, courtesy of www.streetmap.co.uk

Of course, many of the other variations in the spelling of our surname survive to the present day, but it is interesting to speculate that there must be one common origin.......maybe one day I’ll track the fella down and finally find out who saddled me with this surname.

*Thanks go to Roger Barltrop for the quote

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