Wow, thanks for all the info on migration in Northumberland! Michael Dixon, I like your name!
I also am trying to find a little about the migration in Northumberland and Durham prior to 1700.
I found my ancestors, confirmed back to William Dixon (1720-1769) in St. Andrews church - Shotley Lower Quarter, a very small church at the southern edge of Northumberland. His baptism says he's "son of John Dixon." I found in the archives from Durham the 1750 will of John Dixon of Shotley, the father, who apparently died in 1763 in Shotley. He gives his estate to his 4 sons, with allowance for his wife, and his youngest son is described as Joseph Dixon "of Stanhope" (northern County Durham). There is no record prior of John Dixon, the father, in Shotley, however, the churchbook from Shotley only goes back to 1695, so that is not surprising, since he was probably born before then. There is a 1718 marriage of a John Dixon to Margaret Proud, but in the will John's wife is Isabel. Don't see any death for a Margaret Proud or a Margaret Dixon. I note that there are lots of Dixon's in Stanhope and also nearby Wolsingham. I am not sure if they perhaps had family there before, or perhaps it was a move to a near area by the son. However, with Shotley being so small, I have doubts that they were there for centuries before 1700. Also, I have no info about John Dixon's occupation, or that of his son William, however, the child of William, George Dixon, was a banksman at the coal mine on Kiln Pit Hill there next to the church. There were many stone masons in the family going on down the line after that. Also, George Dixon and his siblings mostly moved to Snows Green, next to Shotley Bridge across the river in county Durham, so the later Dixons were in northern county Durham. I've also heard that the Dixon name ORIGINALLY came from southern Scotland, but again, I have no info prior to John Dixon, so I have no idea where they were prior to 1700. Any thoughts?
