Can we be traced back to Edmund Ironside in 1016? Or are we connected with Cromwell and the Ironsides? Not as far as we know. In most parts of Great Britain there may be only one or two Ironside families, but in the Aberdeen area there are several columns of names in the telephone book.
The main branch of the family is Scots with a Durham branch originating from a predecessor of a Robert Ironside of Houghton-le-Spring in 1507. His grandson Ralph moved to Dorset and we can trace our descent from this Dorset line.
One family member has done a lot of work on a family tree; but there remains a gap between Edgar the Aethling grandson of Edmund Ironside and John Ironside born circa 1666 in the Scots line.