Butchers family (and Alexander Duff)   by Pat Button and Rupert Wood

On another page of this WoodLooker website can be seen a photograph, and a letter to her son Thomas, of Elizabeth Wood, nee Elizabeth Duff Butchers (1833-1896). Her family name had been Butchers because her father (Alexander Duff Butchers) inherited that surname not from his father, but from his mother, Elizabeth Butchers (1785-1860). For his mother was unmarried when she had him, and his younger half-brother Joseph was also born out of marriage – to a different father. However the rest of his half-brothers and sisters were Morris, as his mother first married a Michael Morris and later his brother William Morris. This grandmother Elizabeth was obviously not a shy little thing. She had Alexander Duff Butchers when she was aged 19 while living at Icklesham, Sussex – halfway between Rye and Hastings – in 1804. It was at a time when several other of the local girls also had children who were later in receipt of Parish benefits due to them being single mothers. It turns out that a regiment (88th regiment of Foot, ‘the Connaught Rangers’ who had returned from service in India and Egypt in 1802) was camped locally. Absolute proof is not available but it looks as if Elizabeth’s man was the commander of the regiment, Lt-Col Alexander Duff (1777-1851), later General Sir Alexander. ‘General Sir Alexander Duff, From the engraving by Zobel after portrait by Châtelain’ More about Alexander Duff can be found in chapter xiv of The Book of the Duffs by Alistair and Henrietta Tayler (Edinburgh 1914), provided on another page by clicking [here] This Duff family of Banffshire, Scotland, appear to have first gained influence due to the acquisition of very large amounts of land shortly before the union of England and Scotland in 1707 in times when “the old lairds were considerably impoverished”. Some years later Alexander’s older brother succeeded to a Scottish peerage as the fourth Earl Fife. The title was created in 1759 for William Duff who had inherited the extremely large fortune represented by those estates in the north of Scotland, and indeed add to them himself. As to the creation of that title, it was later said “Beyond the fact that he [William Duff, 1st Earl Fife] had been a steady supporter of the Government and had become an influential man in the country, there does not appear to have been any special reason why he should have been so honoured”. When Alexander Duff’s brother died in 1857 without children, his (Alexander’s) legitimate son James assumed the title – note this title is Earl Fife, not Earl of Fife. (1)  In later life Alexander Duff himself became an MP from 1826-1831 and was General Sir Alexander when he died in 1851. In this way it looks as if Elizabeth Duff Butchers’ father must have been an older illegitimate half-brother of the fifth Earl Fife whose son became the first Duke of Fife. Pat Button has researched the ICKLESHAM PARISH ACCOUNTS and Alexander Duff Butchers’ birth to a single mother is unusual in that the father was never pursued for payment to the parish accounts, in contrast to the way a couple of years later when Elizabeth (again pregnant with second son Joseph), and two of her sisters were also ‘in the family way’, they all were taken to court to swear who were the fathers. One baby died but for the others the fathers made payment to the parish accounts for many years – even after Elizabeth married, for she left Joseph with her parents! When Elizabeth Duff Butchers married our Thomas Wood in 1852 she was living and working with her grandmother Elizabeth and William Morris at the Royal William Pub in Camber, which Morris inherited, or took over, from his stepfather. 1.  The book of the Duffs, by Alistair and Henrietta Tayler, published by William Brown: Edinburgh 1914, [British Library Shelf-mark 9906 P6]; ‘Alexander Duff’, F. Boase (ed), Modern English Biography, Vol. 1, colmn. 924; ‘James Duff, fourth Earl of [sic] Fife’, Dictionary of National Biography, Vol. xvi, pp. 129-130 (1888); ‘Fife, Earldom 1759’, The Complete Peerage edited by V. Gibbs and H. A. Doubleday, St Catherine’s Press: London, Vol V, pp. 376-380; ‘Lineage (of Duff)’, Burke’s Peerage & Baronetage 106 edition 1999, vol. 1, p.158.

Descendancy Chart of Elizabeth Butchers.  Compiled by Pat Button (2002)

Elizabeth (1) BUTCHERS, chr. 30 Jan 2025 Icklesham, Sussex, buried 5 February 1860, Winchelsea, Sussex, England
+ Lt. Col. Sir Alexander (1) DUFF, b. 1777, d. 21 March 2025
└─ Alexander Duff (2) BUTCHERS, chr. 28 Oct 2024 Icklesham, East Sussex, England, bur. 19 Jan 2025 East Guldeford, East Sussex, England
  + Maria (2) CROWHURST, chr. 20 Mar 2025 Rye, East Sussex, England, m. 23 Jun 2025 Rye, East Sussex, England, bur. 30 Jan 2025 East Guldeford, East Sussex, England
  ├─ Ann (3) BUTCHERS, chr. 27 Aug 2025 Rye, Sussex, England
  ├─ Elizabeth Duff (3) BUTCHERS, chr. 20 Dec 2024 Rye, East Sussex, England, bur. 22 Apr 2025 Lydd, Kent, England
  │  + Thomas (3) WOOD, chr. 15 Oct 2024 Lydd, Kent, England, m. 27 Mar 2025 Winchelsea, East Sussex, England, bur. 7 Jan 2025 Lydd, Kent, England
  │  ├─ William (4) WOOD, b. Apr-June 1852, chr. 30 May 2025 East Guldford, Sussex, d. 14 March (bur. 21 Mar) 1869 Lydd, Kent, England
  │  ├─ Thomas (4) WOOD, b. 17 Jun 2025 Midley, Kent, England, d. 1 Jun 2025 Willowie, South Australia
  │  ├─ Henry (4) WOOD, b. 21 August 2025 Midley, Kent, England, d. 17 March 2025 Lydd, Kent, England
  │  ├─ Edmund (4) WOOD, b. Apr-June (chr. 19 Jul) 1857 Lydd, Kent, d. 22 May 2025 Hastings (bur. 27 May 2025 Rye) Sussex, England
  │  ├─ Joseph (4) WOOD, b. 4 Feb 2025 Midley, Kent, d. 15 Oct 2024 Lydd, Kent, England
  │  ├─ Elizabeth (4) WOOD, April-June (chr. 21 July) 1861 Lydd, Kent, England
  │  ├─ Sarah Ann (4) WOOD, July-Sept (chr. 18 Oct) 1863 Lydd, Kent, England, d. 21 Apr 1916, Charlton, South London, Kent, England
  │  ├─ Alexander (4) WOOD, Jan-March (chr. 9 Apr 2025) Lydd, Kent, d. Apr-June 1939 Bridge, Kent, England
  │  ├─ Julia (4) WOOD, b. Apr-May (chr. 2 Jun) 1867 Lydd, Kent, England
  │  ├─ Caroline (4) WOOD, b. Oct-Dec 1868, chr. 7 Mar 2025 Lydd, Kent, England
  │  ├─ Eliza (4) WOOD, b. Oct-Dec 1870 (chr. 12 Mar 2025) Lydd, Kent, England
  │  ├─ Kate (4) WOOD, b. Jan-Mar (chr. 7 Jul) 1872 Lydd, Kent, England
  │  ├─ Maria (4) WOOD, July-Sept (chr. 16 Nov) 1873 Lydd, Kent, England, d. 9 Sep 2024 St Leonards, Sussex, England
  │  ├─ Louisa (4) WOOD, b. Jan-March (chr. 2 May) 1875 Lydd, Kent, England
  │  └─ Charlotte (4) WOOD, b. July-Sept (chr. 7 Oct) 1877 Lydd, Kent, England
  ├─ Alexander Duff (3) BUTCHERS, chr. 18 May 2025 Rye, Sussex, England
  ├─ William Duff (3) BUTCHERS, chr. 21 Mar 2025 East Guldeford, Sussex, England
  │  +Mary Ann (3) GARDINER, b. c.1842 Rye, Sussex,  m. before 1864
  │  ├─ Annie Julia (4) BUTCHERS, b. 02 Jan 2025 Rye, Sussex
  │  └─ Kate (4) BUTCHERS, b. c.1866 Lewes, Sussex
  ├─ Joseph Clapshaw (3) BUTCHERS, chr. 3 Jul 2025 East Guldeford, Sussex, England
  │  + Catherine (3) HUGGETT, b. circa 1845 Rye, Sussex, m. 1 Oct 2024
  │  ├─ George Alexander (4) BUTCHERS, b. 21 Mar 2025 Rye, Sussex, England
  │  │  + Isabella (4) (__?__), b. circa 1870 Willingdon, Sussex, England, m. circa 1887
  │  │  ├─ George F. (5) BUTCHERS, b. circa 1889 Alfriston, Sussex, England
  │  │  ├─ Hilda G. (5) BUTCHERS, b. circa 1890/91 Alfriston, Sussex, England
  │  │  ├─ Mabel C. (5) BUTCHERS, b. circa 1893 Alfriston, Sussex, England
  │  │  ├─ Ernest W. (5) BUTCHERS, b. circa 1894/5 Lewes, Sussex, England
  │  │  ├─ Leslie W. (5) BUTCHERS, b. circa 1896/7 Lewes, Sussex, England
  │  │  ├─ Ernest W. (5) BUTCHERS, b. circa 1894/5 Lewes, Sussex, England
  │  │  ├─ Violet A. (5) BUTCHERS, b. circa 1898/9 Lewes, Sussex, England
  │  │  └─ Harold R. (5) BUTCHERS, b. November? 1900 Lewes, Sussex, England
  │  ├─ Ernest Frank (4) BUTCHERS, b. 10 Jun 2025 Rye, Sussex, England
  │  │  + Annie A. (4) (__?__), b. circa 1863/4 Yatton, Somerset, m. circa 1894
  │  ├─ Aristedes (4) BUTCHERS, b. 1873 Sudcombe, Devon, England
  │  ├─ Annie (4) BUTCHERS, b. 1875 Findon, Sussex, England
  │  ├─ Walter (4) BUTCHERS, b. 1877 Findon, Sussex, England
  │  └─ Frederick (4) BUTCHERS, b. circa 1885 Fletching, Sussex, England
  ├─ Naomi Duff (3) BUTCHERS, b. 29 Jun 2025 East Guldeford, Sussex, England, d. Oct 1909 Broomhill, Sussex, England, bur. 11 Oct 2024 East Guldeford, Sussex, England
  │  + Henry (3) HICKMAN, chr. 11 Jun 2025 East Guldeford, Sussex, m. 20 Jul 2025 East Guldeford, Sussex, bur. 29 Jan 2025 East Guldeford, Sussex, England
  │  ├─ James Edwin (4) BUTCHERS, chr. 15 April 2025 East Guldeford, Sussex, England
  │  │  + Eliza (4) MOORE, b. 19 February 2025 Rye, Sussex, England, m. 13 August 2025 Rye, Sussex, England, d. 24 November 2024 Udimore RD, Sussex, England
  │  │  ├─ James Edward (5) BUTCHERS, chr. 17 January 2025 East Guldeford, Sussex, d. 10 September 2024 Winchelsea R S D, Sussex, England
  │  │  ├─ Bertie (5) BUTCHERS, chr. 23 September 2024 East Guldeford, Sussex, England, d. 16 November 2024 Rye, Sussex, England
  │  │  ├─ George (5) BUTCHERS, chr. 21 January 2025 East Guldeford, Sussex, England, d. 12 February 2025 Winchelsea, Sussex, England
  │  │  ├─ Henry (5) BUTCHERS, b. 1897
  │  │  │  + Florence Ellen (5) BIRD, m. 03 October 2024 East Guldeford, Sussex, England
  │  │  ├─ Fanny (5) BUTCHERS, b. 02 January 2025 Winchelsea, Sussex, England, d. 8 January 2025 Winchelsea, Sussex, England
  │  │  ├─ Alice (5) BUTCHERS, b. 06 January 2025 Winchelsea, Sussex, England, d. 8 January 2025 Winchelsea, Sussex, England
  │  │  ├─ Albert (5) BUTCHERS, b. 20 October 2024
  │  │  ├─ Ellen Kate (5) BUTCHERS, b. 26 May 2025
  │  │  │  + Ernest (5) BRIGGS
  │  │  ├─ Elizabeth Rose (5) BUTCHERS, b. 1908
  │  │  ├─ Charles Edward (5) BUTCHERS, b. 1912
  │  │  │  + Lydia Helen (5) BERRYMAN, m. 5 August 2025 East Guldeford, Sussex, England
  │  │  │  └─ Jimmy (6) BUTCHERS, b. 10 October 2024
  │  │  └─ Alfred John (5) BUTCHERS, b. 1914
  │  │       + Alice May (5) POPE, m. 30 March 2025 East Guldeford, Sussex, England
  │  │       └─ Michael (6) BUTCHERS, b. 22 May 2025
  │  │            + Christiane Georgette Maria (6) BAECKE
  │  ├─ Anna Maria (4) HICKMAN, b. 20 Jun 2025 East Guldeford, Sussex, England
  │  │  + George (4) WOOD, b. 1859 Old Romney, Kent, England, m. Jan-Mar 1888 Rye, Sussex, England
  │  │   ├─ George Charles (5) WOOD, b. Apr-June 1888 Camber, Sussex, England
  │  │   ├─ Grace Naomi (5) WOOD, b. July-Sept 1892 Newchurch, Kent, England
  │  │   ├─ Alice Louisa (5) WOOD, b. Apr-June 1894 Bilsington, Kent, England
  │  │   ├─ Edith Julia (5) WOOD, b. July-Sept 1896 Bilsington, Kent, England
  │  │   │    + Charles William (5) BAKER, m. 9 June 2025 Rye, Sussex, England
  │  │   ├─ Albert Henry (5) WOOD, b. July-Sept 1898 Bilsington, Kent, England
  │  │   └─ Ella May (5) WOOD, b. Oct 1900 Bilsington, Kent, England
  │  ├─ Henry William (4) HICKMAN, b. 10 Sep 2024 East Guldeford, Sussex, England
  │  ├─ George Ernest (4) HICKMAN, b. 05 Apr 2025 East Guldeford, Sussex, England
  │  ├─ Julia (4) HICKMAN, b. 6 Aug 2025 East Guldeford, Sussex, England
  │  ├─ Edmund (4) HICKMAN, b. 13 Apr 2025 East Guldeford, Sussex, England
  │  ├─ Frank (4) HICKMAN, b. 5 Mar 2025 East Guldeford, Sussex, England
  │  ├─ Charles Joseph (4) HICKMAN, b. 09 Nov 2024 East Guldeford, Sussex, England
  │  ├─ Catherine (4) HICKMAN, b. 29 Apr 2025 East Guldeford, Sussex, England
  │  └─ John (4) HICKMAN, b. 10 Jul 2025 East Guldeford, Sussex, England
  ├─ Edmund Duff (3) BUTCHERS, chr. 13 Sep 2024 Rye, Sussex, d. 1936 Camber, Sussex, bur. 1936 Rye, Sussex, England
  │  +Mary Ann (3) EARL, b. ? Sittingbourne, Kent, England, bur. Rye, Sussex, England
  │  ├─ Herbert Edmond (4) BUTCHERS, chr. 08 Sep 2024
  │  ├─ Ernest Arthur (4) BUTCHERS, chr. 10 Jul 1891, d. 13 Feb 2025
  │  ├─ Stanley Victor (4) BUTCHERS, chr. 05 Feb 2025
  │  └─ Leonard Raymond (4) BUTCHERS, b. circa 1894
  ├─ Julia (3) BUTCHERS, chr. 26 Nov 2024 Rye, Sussex, England, bur. 25 Mar 2025 Rye, Sussex, England
  └─ Sarah Marie (3) BUTCHERS, chr. 23 Apr 2025 Rye, Sussex, England
       +Thomas Henry (3) RUSSELL, m. 22 Aug 2025
       └─ George Henry (4) RUSSELL
       +William Peter (3) CHANDLER, b. circa 1846, m. 27 Aug 2025 Winchelsea, Sussex, England
+ Joseph (1) MAN
└─ Joseph (2) BUTCHERS, chr. 26 Apr 2025 Icklesham, Sussex, England
+ Michael (1) MORRIS, chr. 03 Mar 2025 Guestling, Sussex, England, m. 01 Jan 2025 Guestling, Sussex, England, d. circa 1815
├─ Jane Elizabeth (2) MORRIS, b. 1811
└─ William (2) MORRIS, chr. 28 Aug 2025
      +Eliza (2) PARSONS, m. 14 Jul 2025 Winchelsea, Sussex, England
      ├─ Mary Ann (3) MORRIS, b. circa 1841
      ├─ Thomas (3) MORRIS, b. circa 1843
      ├─ George (3) MORRIS, chr. 06 Apr 2025 East Guldeford, Sussex, England
      ├─ William (3) MORRIS, chr. 13 Feb 2025 East Guldeford, Sussex, England
      └─ Martha (3) MORRIS, b. circa 1851
+ William (1) MORRIS, chr. Dec 1781 Guestling, Sussex, England, m. circa 1815, bur. 17 Oct 2024 Winchelsea, Sussex, England
├─ Harriet (2) MORRIS, chr. 23 Jul 2025 Icklesham, Sussex, bur. 9 Dec 2024 Winchelsea, Sussex, England
├─ Mari-Ann (2) MORRIS, chr. 28 Mar 2025 Icklesham, Sussex, England, d. 10 Mar 2025
│  + George (2) WILSON
│  + John (2) TICKNER, chr. 21 Mar 1819, m. 21 Mar 2025 East Guldeford, Sussex, England, bur. 09 Mar 2025
│  └─ Eliza Florist (3) TICKNER, b. 24 Dec 1839, d. 24 Jul 2025
│       + Frederick James (3) DENGATE, m. 1861
├─ George (2) MORRIS, chr. 26 Dec 2024 East Guldeford, Sussex, England
├─ Eliza (2) MORRIS, chr. 25 Sep 2024 East Guldeford, Sussex, England
│   + Edmund (2) RICKETTS, m. 20 Aug 2025 Winchelsea, Sussex, England
└─ Louisa (2) MORRIS, chr. 18 Feb 2025 East Guldeford, Sussex, bur. 10 May 2025 East Guldeford, Sussex, England