Bradbury History

Bradbury Name Spellings

Perhaps the first thing that should be said about the name Bradbury is that there are quite a few of us in the World living in the U.S.A., U.K., Argentina, Australia/New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, and elsewhere.

Since the early 19th century the name Bradbury has remained unchanged but in earlier times there were numerous variations in the way the name was spelt. The reason for this is that prior to the latter half of the 18th century the vast majority of people were illiterate, even to the extent of being unable to write their own names. It was the duty of the priest or the parish clerk to enter the names of people in the parish register and this was done according to how the name sounded or how they thought it should be spelt. The local dialect could therefore influence the spelling of a name. The earliest entries in parish registers were often in Latin. Variations on record include Bradburrie, Bradburie, Bradberry, Bradbery, Bradbry, Broadbury and dozens of others. All of course are of the Bradbury Family, the most common spelling.

Bradbury Name Origin

The origin of surnames is very complex. However, it is true to say it all started as a result of parents either naming a child after a geographical feature, a man-made feature, a human feature (including nick-names), or, the occupation of the father. The Bradbury name lies in the first category - a geographical feature.

In the Penguin Dictionary of Surnames Bradbury is described as Old English and a local name. The exact Old English is brad meaning broad and burh meaning fort. Its general meaning is a fort made of boards/planks (not very exciting stuff!!). It is also a place name (a village) in the County of Durham and also in the County of Cheshire (Bredbury - now a suburb of Manchester, England). The origin of our Bradbury family name therefore probably lies in one of these two counties. Research favors the latter location.

The first recordings of the Bradbury name are in legal documents. A William de Bradbury is mentioned on the assize rolls of Cheshire in 1288. As part of a "fine" (meaning simply a financial consideration) which was levied in 1322, there is mention of a Robert Bradbury.

Portions provided by John Bradbury, Kingswinford, Nr. Stourbridge, England

Visit and learn more from www.bradbury.org, the worldwide Bradbury Family website.