Broadwater History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The name Broadwater has a long Anglo-Saxon heritage. The name comes from when a family lived near a wide body of water; this may have been either a river or a lake. The surname Broadwater may also be derived from residence in the old parish of Broadwater, which now a suburb of Worthing in Sussex. This parish was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, under the name of Bradewatre. This land, which was held by William de Braose at that time, was the site of a church and a mill.

Early Origins of the Broadwater family

The surname Broadwater was first found in Sussex, at Broadwater, originally a parish, in the union of Preston and in the hundred of Brightford. 1 St. Mary's Church, Broadwater, is a Church of England parish church that is listed in the Domesday Book. It is thought to have been built over and ancient Saxon church as in 1939, a Saxon doorway in the south wall of the chancel was discovered. Saxon doorjambs and window arches are preserved within the walls of the present tower.

Thomas Bradwardine (1290?-1349), was Archbishop of Canterbury and is commonly called Doctor Profundus. His surname is variously spelt Bragwardin (Gerson), Brandnardinus (Gesner), Bredwardyn (Birchington), and Bradwardyn (William de Dene). "In public documents he is usually designated as Thomas de Bradwardina or de Bredewardina. His family may have originally come from Bradwardine near Hereford, but he himself says that he was born in Chichester, and implies that his father and grandfather were also natives of that city. " 2

Early History of the Broadwater family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Broadwater research. Another 210 words (15 lines of text) covering the years 1086, 1273, 1290, 1349, 1500, 1590, 1610 and 1623 are included under the topic Early Broadwater History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Broadwater Spelling Variations

Spelling variations in names were a common occurrence before English spelling was standardized a few hundred years ago. In the Middle Ages, even the literate spelled their names differently as the English language incorporated elements of French, Latin, and other European languages. Many variations of the name Broadwater have been found, including Broadwater, Bradewatre, Brawatere, Brawdwater, Bradwater, Broadwatter and many more.

Early Notables of the Broadwater family

Another 36 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Broadwater Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Broadwater Ranking

In the United States, the name Broadwater is the 7,354^th most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. 3

Broadwater migration to the United States +

Families began migrating abroad in enormous numbers because of the political and religious discontent in England. Often faced with persecution and starvation in England, the possibilities of the New World attracted many English people. Although the ocean trips took many lives, those who did get to North America were instrumental in building the necessary groundwork for what would become for new powerful nations. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America bore the name Broadwater, or a variant listed above:

Broadwater Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Hugh Broadwater, who settled in Virginia in 1663
Hugh Broadwater, who landed in Maryland in 1664 4
John Broadwater, who arrived in America in 1671

Broadwater migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 5

Broadwater Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Thomas Broadwater who arrived in Jamaica in 1684

Contemporary Notables of the name Broadwater (post 1700) +

Rev. James S Broadwater, American politician
Jesse Broadwater (b. 1984), American six-time gold medalist archer
Christopher D. "Chris" Broadwater (b. 1972), American attorney and politician, Louisiana State Representative from District 86 (2012-)
Robert Broadwater (b. 1962), American professional football player
Willard Craig Broadwater (1950-2006), United States federal judge
Charles Arthur Broadwater (1840-1892), American railroad, real estate, and banking magnate in Montana
Willard Craig Broadwater (b. 1950), American Democratic Party politician, Circuit Judge in West Virginia for the 1st Judicial Circuit, 1983-96; U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of West Virginia, 1996- 6
Keith Broadwater, American politician, Independent Candidate for Presidential Elector for Arizona, 2008 6
Jack F. Broadwater, American Democratic Party politician, Member of West Virginia Democratic State Executive Committee, 1957 6
Carey Broadwater, American politician, Independent Candidate for Presidential Elector for Arizona, 2008 6
... (Another 1 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
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)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 23) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html