The story of the Norton family from
Yorkshire, England to America.

The first noble Norton family in Yorkshire and Durham was the Norville-Norton family sent by William the Conqueror to put down the rebellion in Durham. The Norton's aggregated a lot of land but the main family line in York ran out of male heirs. The last inheriting Norton was Margaret Norton who married Roger Conyers about 1300 As a result of the inherited lands, Roger assumed the Norton name and their first child was named Adam Norton. This Norton line was established at Norton-Conyers in Yorkshire and married into many royal and noble families. The Y-DNA of the Nortons of Yorkshire will be different from that of the Norville-Nortons of Sharpenhoe.

Seven generations from Adam Norton was Richard Norton, known as "Old Norton" He was the head of his illustrious house, which remained faithful to the Catholic religion even though the Church of England was the official state religion and Catholics were banned and persecuted.

Despite this fact he held positions of influence during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI. He was Governor of Norham Castle under Mary, and in 1568-69 was sheriff of Yorkshire. He had been pardoned for joining in the Pilgrimage of Grace, but he and his brother Thomas, his nine sons, of whom Christopher was the seventh, and many of their relatives hastened to take part in the northern uprising of 1569.

In the late autumn of 1569, in the eleventh year of Queen Elizabeth's reign an insurrection, known as the "Rising of the North" took place at the head of which were Percy Earl of Northumberland and Neville, Earl of Westmorland. The aim of this movement was to re-establish the religion of their ancestors, to remove Evil Counsellors, and to restore the Duke of Norfolk and other peers to their liberty and to the Queen's favor. The two Earls published a manifesto in which they declared that they intended to attempt nothing against the Queen to whom they avowed unshaken allegiance but that their only object was as just stated. There can be no doubt whatever however that one of their objects was to carry off Mary Queen of Scots from her prison at Tutbury. Queen Elizabeth received repeated intimations of the Earls' disaffection and summoned them to Court to answer for their conduct, but they dared not trust themselves in her hands and they consequently disobeyed the mandate. The summons sent to the two Earls, however, precipitated the rising before they were fully prepared.

Among the disaffected Richard Norton was one of the most eager for immediate action together with several of his sons, his brother Thomas and other relations. When the uprising failed, Richard Norton, his sons, Christopher and Marmaduke, and his brother Thomas Norton, and about fifty others of noble extraction or of other distinction were tainted of high treason 7th Nov. 1569 and their possessions forfeited.

Richard Norton fled to Flanders where doubtless he rejoined the Earl of Westmorland, and died there in poverty 9th April 1585 (aged 91), the "Patriarch of the Rebellion."

His brother Thomas was hanged and quartered in the presence of his nephew Christopher at Tyburn on 27th May 1570.

The fate on the sons of Richard Norton was as follows:-

The Nortons were given the choice of renouncing the Catholic faith or being drawn and quartered. Two Nortons were ultimately drawn, quartered and had their heads chopped off. The story is told by Wordsworth in his epic poem, "The Whyte Doe of Rhysdale". Along with their heads, the Norton's lost their lands and power. The Catholic faith defined the family and ultimately it's fate.

With the accession of Queen Elizabeth (1558) commenced the series of legislative enactments, commonly known as the Penal Laws, under which the profession and practice of the Catholic religion were subjected to severe penalties and disabilities. By laws passed in the reign of Elizabeth herself, any English subject receiving Holy Orders of the Church of Rome and coming to England was guilty of high treason, and any one who aided or sheltered him was guilty of capital felony. It was likewise made treason to be reconciled to the Church of Rome, and to procure others to be reconciled. Papists were totally disabled from giving their children any education in their own religion. Should they educate them at home under a schoolmaster who did not attend the parish church, and was not licenced by the bishop of the diocese, the parents were liable to forfeit ten pounds a month, and the schoolmaster himself forty shillings a day. Should the children be sent to Catholic seminaries beyond the seas, their parents were liable to forfeit one hundred pounds, and the children themselves were disabled from inheriting, purchasing, or enjoying any species of property. Saying Mass was punished by a forfeiture of 200 marks; hearing it by one of 100 marks. The statutes of recusancy punished nonconformity with the Established Church by a fine of twenty pounds per lunar month during which the parish church was not attended, there being thirteen of such months in the year. Such non-attendances constituted recusancy in the proper sense of the term, and originally affected all, whether Catholics, or others, who did not conform.
Catholic Encyclopedia

When Queen Elizabeth executed two of this Norton family, it forced a division of the family into two factions. Those loyal to the Queen and those who sought to replace the illigetimate daughter of Henry VIII and protestant ruler with a Catholic and legitimate heir to the throne of England.

The family that stayed loyal to Queen Elizabeth rose to high political office during the American Revolution, culminating in Fletcher Norton, speaker of the house of commons and made Lord Grantley, Baron Markensfield.

The family that fell to the queens displeasure, fled to Spanish Flanders and was supported by the King and Queen of Spain while plans were made to secure a legitmate heir to the throne of England. The other families in Yorkshire mostly immigrated to the American colonies. You will be suprised at the number of Norton families and their connections in America.