Bretton History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
France

The name Bretton has a long French heritage that first began in northwestern region of Brittany. The name is derived from when the family lived in the province of Brittany, known to the French as Bretagne. Dwellers in this province were referred to as Bretons.

Early Origins of the Bretton family

The surname Bretton was first found in Brittany, where the family has held a family seat since ancient times.

Early History of the Bretton family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bretton research. Another 310 words (22 lines of text) covering the years 1558, 1609, 1655, 1679, 1700, 1900 and 1913 are included under the topic Early Bretton History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bretton Spelling Variations

Changes of spelling have occurred in most surnames. The earliest explanation is that during the early development of the French language, names were not yet fixed in spelling. Usually a person gave his version of his name, phonetically, to a scribe, a priest, or a recorder. This depended on accent, and local accents frequently changed the spelling of a name. Some variables were adopted by different branches of the family name. Hence, there are some spelling variations of the name Bretton, including Breton, Bretone, Bretton, Breto, Bretto, Bret, Bretau, Breteau, Brettau, Bretteau, Bretaux, Brettaux, Lebreton, Lebreteau, Lebreto and many more.

Early Notables of the Bretton family

Another 48 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Bretton Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bretton migration to the United States +

In 1643, 109 years after the first landings by Cartier, there were only about 300 people in Quebec. Migration was slow. The fur trade attracted migrants, both noble and commoner. By 1675, there were 7000 French in Quebec. By the same year the French Acadian presence in the Maritimes had reached 500. The French founded Lower Canada, thus becoming one of the two great founding nations of Canada. The family name Bretton has made many distinguished contributions in France and New France to the world of science, culture, religion, and education. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Bretton were

Bretton Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

William Bretton, who landed in Maryland in 1637 1
Temperance Bretton, who arrived in Maryland in 1649 1
Seayone Bretton, who arrived in Maryland in 1654 1
George Bretton, who landed in Maryland in 1657 1
Stephen Bretton, who landed in Maryland in 1661 1
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Bretton Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Joseph Bretton, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1828 1

Contemporary Notables of the name Bretton (post 1700) +

Henry L. Bretton, American Democratic Party politician, Candidate for Michigan State House of Representatives from Washtenaw County 1st District, 1962 2
Raphael Bretton (b. 1920), French Academy Award winning set decorator for Hello Dolly! (1969)
Sally Bretton (b. 1980), English actress

Citations +

Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 25) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html