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![Show Contents]() Brattomb History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
- Origins Available:
 England
Cornwall, one of the original six "Celtic nations" is the homeland to the surname Brattomb. A revival of the Cornish language which began in the 9th century AD has begun. No doubt this was the language spoken by distant forebears of the Brattomb family. Though surnames became common during medieval times, English people were formerly known only by a single name. The way in which hereditary surnames were adopted in medieval England is fascinating. Many Cornish surnames appear to be topographic surnames, which were given to people who resided near physical features such as hills, streams, churches, or types of trees, many are actually habitation surnames. The name Brattomb is a local type of surname and the Brattomb family lived at the villages of Bratton Clovelly and Bratton Fleming in Devon. The name Bratton means the settlement by the brook. 1 Early Origins of the Brattomb familyThe surname Brattomb was first found in Devon, where the name is associated with two villages, Bratton Clovelly and Bratton Fleming. In the Domesday Book survey of 1086 Bratton Clovelly was recorded as lands held by Baldwin the Sheriff while Bratton Fleming was held by the Count of Mortain and was the site of a swinery and sheep farms. Early in the history of the family name it branched to Dorset, where William de Bratton, also recorded as de Braton, was registered in the Pipe Rolls of 1195. 2 Some of the family may have originated in the village and civil parish of Bratton, near Westbury in Wiltshire as the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 list Godfrey de Bratton as holding lands there in 1273. 3 Bratton Castle (Bratton Camp) is a bivallate Iron Age hillfort on Bratton Down. One of the most famous and earliest records of the family was Henry de Bretton, Bratton or Bracton (d. 1268), the English ecclesiastic and judge and author of a comprehensive treatise on the law of England. "Three places have been conjecturally assigned as the birthplace of this distinguished jurist, viz. Bratton Clovelly, near Okehampton in Devonshire, Bratton Fleming, near Barnstaple in the same county, and Bratton Court, near Minehead in Somersetshire. The pretensions of Bratton Clovelly seem to rest entirely upon the fact that anciently it was known as Bracton. " 4 Early History of the Brattomb familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Brattomb research. Another 59 words (4 lines of text) covering the year 1794 is included under the topic Early Brattomb History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Brattomb Spelling VariationsCornish surnames are characterized by a multitude of spelling variations. The frequent changes in surnames are due to the fact that the Old and Middle English languages lacked definite spelling rules. The official court languages, which were Latin and French, were also influential on the spelling of a surname. Since the spelling of surnames was rarely consistent in medieval times, and scribes and church officials recorded names as they sounded rather than adhering to any specific spelling rules, it was common to find the same individual referred to with different spellings of their surname in the ancient chronicles. Moreover, a large number of foreign names were brought into England, which accelerated and accentuated the alterations to the spelling of various surnames. Lastly, spelling variations often resulted from the linguistic differences between the people of Cornwall and the rest of England. The Cornish spoke a unique Brythonic Celtic language which was first recorded in written documents during the 10th century. However, they became increasingly Anglicized, and Cornish became extinct as a spoken language in 1777, although it has been revived by Cornish patriots in the modern era. The name has been spelled Bratton, Braton, Brattone, Bratone, Bratten and many more. Early Notables of the Brattomb familyMore information is included under the topic Early Brattomb Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Migration of the Brattomb familyAmongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Brattomb were Patrick Bratton who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1854. John Bratton (1831-1898), born in South Carolina, enlisted in the Confederate Army upon the outbreak of the American Civil War and advanced rapidly through the ranks until he was appointed brigadier general in 1864. After the war he entered public life and was elected comptroller of South Carolina..
- Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
- Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
- Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
- Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
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