DUTOIT:
A family from Moudon, Switzerland

Information on some families from the Canton of Vaud.

We will post miscellaneous documents and information here, in response to queries from other genealogists. Feel free to browse! Due to copyright restrictions, we may not be able to post extended sections of some secondary sources.

An important secondary source: Donald Lindsay Galbreath, Armorial Vaudois, 2 volumes, 1934-1936 (Baugy-sur-Clarens). Galbreath collected information on the arms and origins of many families from the Pays de Vaud. Detailed citation of sources are frequently lacking, but the information is generally of good quality. Genealogists should be aware that the existence of a coat of arms for a Swiss family does not imply nobility or any particular distinction. For a discussion of the question of nobility in Switzerland, see the very helpful essay by Benoît de Diesbach Belleroche.

Some extracts from the Armorial Vaudois:

• Vurlod: Arms. Text. Notes: Pay attention to the alternate spellings provided by Galbreath, such as Vourloud, Wurloud, etc. For any name that begins with Vu in French-speaking Switzerland, you can expect to find it sometimes spelled with a W or a Wu replacing the Vu. For example, the region known as Vully is also found spelled Wlly or Wully in old documents. The letters V and U were originally the same letter, and the W was later used to represent ANY of the combinations UU, UV, VU, or VV. The Vurlod family is mainly associated with the commune and parish of Ormont-Dessous, but at least one baptism for the family was recorded in the adjacent commune and parish of Ormont-Dessus, when a child born at La Forclaz in the commune of Ormont-Dessous was baptised farther up the valley at the church of Ormont-Dessus (Louise Marie fille de Jean Vincent Vurlod et de sa femme Henriette Catherine Vurlod de La Forclaz d'Ormont-Dessous, born 16 nov 1835, baptised at Ormont-Dessus 06 dec 1835 — see Family History Library microfilm #1048042, page 181). (Our thanks to Chuck Siebenthal for the scans.) Translation of the text from Galbreath: "Vurlod. Family from Ormont-Dessous cited since 1477. The branches from the valley of the Ormonts are written Vurlod or Wurlod. A branch at Ollon, admitted to the bourgeoisie in 1805, is spelled Vurlod and another, spelled Vourloud, exists at Aigle where they settled before 1718. [Arms] Parti de gueules � l'�toile � six rais d'argent, et de sable � la bande d'argent (Plate 55): tombstone in the cemetery of Aigle, 19th (?) Century."