08/25/2026
The Pierpont (or Pierpoint) family of Maryland shares an ancient Norman lineage with Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, branching off in England generations before the colonization of the American colonies.
The English Root & Branching
Both the ducal line in Nottinghamshire and the colonial American branches trace back to the same Anglo-Norman gentry family centered at Holme Pierrepont.
The Ducal Line: Remained in England, ascending from knights to Earls of Kingston-upon-Hull, and eventually reaching its peak with Evelyn Pierrepont being created the 1st Duke in 1715.
The Maryland Branch: Descends from Henry "the Quaker" Pierpont (1629–1689). Henry immigrated to the Virginia/Maryland region in 1635 and eventually established extensive land holdings in Anne Arundel County, Maryland by 1665 where Rebecca Hawkins’s second husband and my ancestor, Captain Richard Dorsey, had ancestral land. Pierpont holdings included estates like Pierpont’s Lott and Pierpont’s Rocks.
Because they branch off prior to the elevation of the peerage, the Maryland Pierponts are distant cousins to the Duke, representing a cadet branch of the same ancient house.
Entwined Legacies in Maryland Lineages
In Maryland colonial history, the family name became closely enmeshed with other founding gentry families of the region, such as the Dorsey, Larkin, and Warfield families.
The Dorsey Intermarriages: The connection between these lines appears prominently in historical records through marriages like that of Sarah Pierpont to Alexander Warfield, and through subsequent generations where the distinctive family names were preserved or combined.
The Naming Legacy: The prestige of the British peerage line was well known to the American colonists. It was common practice among the colonial gentry to use distinguished family surnames or titles as middle names or double-barrelled associations to honor their ancestral heritage. For instance, my ancestor and revolutionary figure, Captain Richard Dorsey, married Rebecca Hawkins, whose lineage directly carried forward the Pierpont family name, anchoring the heritage of the Holme Pierrepont line deep within Maryland's historical archives.
On 19th March 1616 Henry Pierrepont died aged seventy. Church of St Edmund, Holme Pierrepoint, Nottinghamshire. Designed by John Smythson. Probably carved by Hugh Hall.
