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The origin of the Dodington surname may be found in 'The History and antiquities of the county of Somerset: With a map and engravings, Volume 3' - John Collinson, Jan 1791, available here: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=UdpSAAAAcAAJ&rdid=bo... . On the page for the village of Dodington in Somerset is written: "At the time of the Conqueſt this little village was a part of Alured de Iſpania's manor of Stringſton , which manor in the time of Henry II . came into the poffeffion of Adam de Conteville by his marriage with the daughter and heireſs of Ranulph de Stringſton , the owner and inhabitant of that townſhip . This Adam , who had his ſur name from the feignory of Conteville in the dutchy of Normandy , by his faid wife had iſſue two fons William and Hugh , of whom William de Conteville , being by his father ſettled at Dodington , then written Dodeton , aſſumed that title , which continued in his deſcendants ever after. Those of us with Dodington (also Doddington, Dorington and Dorrington) ancestry are therefore descended from William de Dodington (de Contville) and French (Norman) aristocracy.
My great-great grandmother was Lydia Dorington from the town of Mere in Wiltshire. The Dodingtons were descended from Thomas Dodington from Dodington in Somerset who acquired Woodllands Manor in Mere when he married Jane Gapphey in the mid 14th century and became Lord of the Manor. However in the late 17th century, Stephen Dodington became the final Lord of the Manor when he was forced to sell Woodlands Manor which had become uneconomical to run. In the 18th and 19th centuries the Dodingtons were skilled craftsmen (such as weavers), labourers and some paupers. The fall of the Dodingtons of Mere is described here: http://www.southwilts.com/site/My-family-history-by-Mark-Wareham/do... .