Thorkil de Cleveland

Thorkil De Cliveland was decended from Vikings who gained land from Charles III of France. The land was named Normandy. French for territory of the Northmen. In 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, offered land and nobility to any Norsmen who joined him in conquest of England. 6000 men departed Normandy. They were victorious and William became King of England. This began the rule of the Norman Kings. Thorkil was granted lands and titles. These lands were recorded in the Doomsday Book in 1086.

According to Biblical tradition, Noah had three sons who advanced the lines from which all of the human race are descended. Shem, the oldest son, was a deep yellowish-red. His descendants were the Indians, Jews, and others of reddish-brown or yellow skin. The second son, Ham, was the first dark infant ever born. His descendants wandered from the land just south of Mount Ararat into Africa. Japheth, the third son, was the palest infant ever born. His descendants peopled Europe and some of Asia. One of Japheth's grandsons was part of the tribe that settled in Greece. From this tribe came the Celtics, who roamed northward, some settling in Gaul (now France) and others ranging even farther north into the area where Denmark, Sweden, and Norway are now.

There the Celtics joined forces with a tribe from Asia, also descendants of Japheth. One branch of this tribe came to be known as the Gadds, taking their name from Gadd, one of their "founding fathers." Gadd had an impressive genealogy: he was the great-grandson of Abraham and Sarah, the grandson of Isaac, and the son of Jacob. His people were among those whom Moses led out of Egypt and into Canaan, where they lived on the banks of the Jordan for many years before becoming involved in a war with a neighboring tribe. The Gadds werre subsequently defeated. Some of those who survived the battle were absorbed into the victorious tribe. Other Gadds fled north into Europe.

Eventually a branch of the escaping Gadd tribe reached the North Sea and settled there. Called "Northmen" or "Norsemen," these people became the great sea pirates who roved and plundered their way to England. A Northman chief and his tribe were, supposedly, the first inhabitants of England after landing and settling on the northeast coast of the island. The chief's name among the Celtics was "Cahevium," which the Romans changed to "Caluvium" and the Saxons changed to "Cleveland," so called because of the numerous cliffs or "cleaves" in that area. The original meaning of the name was, in fact, "one who came from Cleveland (the hilly district in Yorkshire)." Because of language barriers in those early days of invasion and conflict and because of the poor spelling and handwriting habits of our ancestors, the name has been variously spelled (sometimes within the space of a single document) as "Cliveland," "Clyveland," "Cleivland," "Clievland," "Cleiveland," "Cleaveland," and "Cleveland." ("Cleaveland" and "Cleveland" were the two spellings of popular choice once the line landed on American soil. "Cleaveland" was initially the preferred of the two, but sometime around 1700 "Cleveland" seemed to become more popular among the Southern Line. However, there are some Southern cousins who still use the "Cleaveland" spelling.)

The district of Cleveland and Cleveland Hills still exist in northern England near the historic town of Whitby. Thorkil de Cliveland, the first Cleveland of record, and his son Uctred, Earl of York in 1066, are credited with building the great Whitby Abbey and were, supposedly, buried under what was the front bay window. More recent information indicates that the structure may actually have been built in 657 or before and Thorkil and Uctred merely added to it. Some of the Whitby Abbey still stands today and is being dug up for archeological purposes. Breathtakingly magnificent scenery in this area is punctuated by moors, valleys, dales, groves of beech and pine, forests of oak, towering sea cliffs, and the ocean. This location also abounds in monuments of antiquity: abbeys, priories, hermitages, castles, fortifications, encampments, and relics of great and former families. Cleveland Hills is where Lady Godiva made her famous ride atop a white horse to protest high taxes.

Thorkil (the Saxon), b. prior to 1066. He was a land owner and had his seat at Giseburne, now Guisborough, Cleveland, North Riding of Yorkshire, England. Here he assumed the surname, calling himself Thorkil de Cliveland, probably previous to 1119 when he was well along in years. He and his son Uctred assumed the name at the same time.

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