This interesting name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and is a variant spelling of the locational name Bramley, from English locational origin from any of the various places so called, for example Bramley in Derbyshire, Hampshire, Surrey, the West Riding of Yorkshire and elsewhere. The name, in all cases, derives from the Old English pre 7th Century "brom-leah", a compound of the elements "brom" meaning "broom" or "gorse" (perhaps also bramble) and "leah" a "clearing". Hence, "a clearing overgrown with broom". The surname is chiefly found in Yorkshire, Nottingham and Derbyshire and is first recorded in the former county, (see below). Among the recordings in Yorkshire is the marriage of Mary Brambley and Daniel Fearnley, on October 18th 1670, at Bradford and of Charles Brambley and Ann Gray on January 25th 1834 at Bubwith. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Nigel de Bramleye, which was dated 1273, The Hundred Rolls of Yorkshire, during the reign of King Edward 1, "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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