Apparently recorded in several spellings and all quite rare, including Batland, Beetland, Bootland, Buthland, and the most popular - Butland, this is most probably an Anglo-Scottish locational surname. Black's dictionary of Scottish surnames regards it as a surname of probably English origins, and a variant of Boothland, whilst the English gazetters refer to the Buthland Burn, a small river which flows through Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire to the Luggie Water! A booth in ancient times was sometimes a cottage, but often a small farm, so this would be a reasonable translation for the name. We know from Scottish records that Huchoun Buthman was a member of the guild of Ayr in Scotland in 1431, but it appears that the name was even earlier in England with one John Buthman being recorded in the Hundred Rolls of landowners in 1273, although we do not have the county. The surname is also well recorded in the early church registers of the city of London from the time of the unfortunate King Charles 1st. He was beheaded on January 30th 1649 whilst in this same year Elias Butland married Sarah Ive at St Botolphs Church, Bishopgate, on December 19th. One hundred and ten years later and at the same church, we have the christening of Thomas Butland, the son of James and Jane Butland, on August 22nd 1762, although whether these people were directly related, is probable but not proven.

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