Hutchison is said to mean 'Son of Hugh', and is a relatively common Scottish surname shared by a number of unrelated families. However, this wasn't always our family surname: my earliest known paternal ancestor Andrew (Cir. 1735) was listed in the Kirkliston Parish records as Hutcheson or Hutchison between 1761 and 1766, and as Hutchie in 1769. Subsequent generations seem to have used Hutchie or Hutchison interchangeably at various times.

I don't know why the family name seems to have changed in the 1760s, but it was changing back to a relatively consistent use of Hutchison by the 1840s and 1850s. We know that the unrelated Hutchison family of Carlowrie had moved into the area in the early 1850s, and this may explain the later change - a wealthy family whose descendents included the botanist and explorer Isobel Wylie Hutchison (1889-1982), my family may have followed the naming conventions of their influential neighbours.

My 6th great grandfather, Andrew Hutcheson, first appears in Kirkliston in 1761 but I have no record of him prior to that time. Certainly, Hutchisons can be found in Linlithgow and the surrounding parts of West Lothian in the 1600s, but I can't make a link between Andrew and these individuals. His origins prior to 1761 are currently unknown.

Andrew and his descendents worked as ploughmen and agricultural labourers, with my 2nd great grandfather George Hutchison (1841-1920) working as a farm overseer (or grieve). Farm labouring was the main occupation for Hutchison men until my great grandfather Robert Hutchison (1869-1939) who worked as a coal or shale miner from 1901, an occupation shared by my grandfather George (1899-1967).

It appears that my distant paternal ancestors were immigrants, arriving in Scotland at some unknown date, as I have inherited a y-DNA profile which is very unusual for the country: Haplogroup G2a subgroup with double DYS19. All members of this subgroup share a paternal ancestor, and members are found in Sardinia, Germany, America, Italy, Russia, Turkey, France, Ireland, Puerto Rico, Austria and Czechoslovakia. However, more male Hutchison descendents will need to have their y-DNA tested before we can be absolutely confident that a non-paternal event (such as adoption or illegitimacy) didn't occur between Andrew Hutcheson (Cir 1735) and myself.

If you want to know whether you are related to this family you can search for connections on this site, undertake further research on ScotlandsPeople, or, if you are a male Hutchison, have your yDNA tested to see if there is a genetic link.