Down the Ritchie Rabbit Hole

What’s in a name?

According to my great grandfather’s nephew, Alva Lawrence Ritchie, in his 1929 letter about the origin of our family name, the Richelieus arrived in Rosehearty, a small port village just north of Aberdeen, Scotland, around 1630, immediately anglicizing their name to “Ritchie” to disguise their identity. This was right around the time of the “Day of the Dupes” in November 1630, when…