This surname is derived from a geographical locality. (1) 'of Mitford,' a parish in the union of Morpeth, Northumberland William Mitford, the historian, often resided at Newton Park in the parish, and his ancestors were early lords of Mitford; (a) 'of Mutford,' a parish in Suffolk, three miles from Beccles. Probably the two streams have mingled.

Adam de Mitford, Suffolk, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Peter de Mitford, Northumberland, ibid.

Robert de Mitford, bailiff of Newcastle-on-Tyne, 1275: Welford's History of Newcastle and Gateshead.

Hugh de Mutford, Suffolk, Henry III Edward I: Testa de Nevill, sive Liber Feodorum, temp. Henry III-Edward I.

John de Mutteford, Kent, 20 Edward I: Placita de Quo Warranto, temp. Edward I-III.

1685-6. Lionel Mitford and Katherine Clinton: Marriage Lic. (Cant).

1761. Married — Booth Brathwaite and Ann Mitford: St. George, Hanover Square.

(English) belonging to Mitford (Northumb.), 13th cent. Mitford = the Confluence- Ford [Old English ge)myþe, a confluence + ford] Mitford is at the junction of the rivers Wansbeck and Font.

"Descended from Matthew, brother of John, who is said to have held the castle of Mitford in Northumberland, soon after the Conquest, and by whose only daughter and heiress it went to the Bertrams. The ancestors of the present family appear to have been for many ages resident at Mitford, though the castle was not in their possession till it was granted with the manor by Charles II. to Robert Mitford, Esq." Shirley's Noble and Gentle Men.

Or Bertram. This fa­mily was founded probably by Brico, a Norwegian Viking, who gave his name to the barony of Briquebee, its inheritance. Oslac or Auslec, his son, filled a great part in Norman history. His brother Amfrid the Dane was ancestor of the earls of Chester, and the barons of Bec-Crespin. Oslac had: 1. Torstin. 2. Hugh Barbatus, ancestor of the barons of Montfort. Torstin, t. Richard I., witnessed his charter in favour of St. Denis 908 (Bouquet, ix. 731), and was a benefactor 960 to Fontenelle (Wiffen, Mem. Russell, i. 00). William, surnamed Bertram, son of Torstin, living 1012, was father of Robert Bertram, Baron of Briquebec, living 1066 (Gall. Christ. xi. 60,229 Instr.). From Robert, his elder son, descended the barons of Briquebee, whose barony consisted of 40 knights’ fees. His younger son, William, became Baron of Mitford and Bothal, Northumberland, probably after the forfeiture of Robert Mowbray. He m. the dau. of Wido de Bailliol (and not of an imaginary Sir John de Mitford, as alleged by some). He had four sons, of whom two left issue, viz. Richard B., ancestor of the barons of Bothal, and an elder son, Roger Bertram, Baron of Mitford. The latter had issue, William, living t. Stephen, father of Roger II. t. Henry II., who in 1165 held five knights’ fees in barony. He had issue three sons, viz.: 1. William B., whose son Roger III. was summoned as a baron by writ 1260 as ‘ Roger Bertram de Mitford,’ and had Roger IV., who d. s. p. 1311. 2. Richard. 3. John de Midford, who t. Richard I. subscribed a charter of Eustace de Bailliol. He had Matthew de M., whose sons, Nicholas and Peter de Mitford, lived t. Henry III., and held lands near Mitford. (Matthew and Nicholas are transferred to the time of the Conquest by modern writers.) Richard de Midford or Mitford, above mentioned, witnessed the charter of Eustace de Bailliol, before referred to. The surname De Midford or Mitford was borne as that of the paternal barony. Eustace de M., 1254, had a grant from Roger III. of part of the demesne of Mitford (Hodgson, ii. ii. 49). His son Hugh de M. lived t. Edward I., and from him the descent is clear to the present family of Mitford, Barons of Mitford, and Lords Redesdale. The manor of Molesden was purchased by this branch 1369, and, in allusion to it, they adopted three moles in their arms, the descent from the Bertrams being probably then forgotten, through lapse of time; and so entirely has this been the case, that this, the legitimate male representative of one of the most illustrious Norman families, is now traced to imaginary Anglo-Saxon ancestors.

A location name in Northumberland.

Mitford was the name of an old Northumbrian family that took its name from a place in the county. The Mitfords are now scantily represented.