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Our Surnames Bl to By
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BLACK.
Like it says! It may, however, either mean dark-complexioned or raven haired.
There are even tales of a warrior who painted his face with charcoal!
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BLACKLOCK. Raven haired.
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BLAGBURN. Black often becomes “blag”, as in Blagdon, so Blagburn is probably
synonymous with Blackburn, not necessarily the town in Lancashire.
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BLAND. A Yorkshire name, from the village in the West Riding (Map??)
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BLAYLOCK. Possibly synonymous with BLACKLOCK… or the exact opposite,
wheat-haired! (c.f. Modern French blé)
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BLENCH.
From the French, blanc, “the white one” so presumably blonde. Our BLENCHs
were “Ag Labs” throughout Co Durham.
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BLISS.
There are two principal sources for this name, offering a choice between Norman
and Saxon. The Norman form probably originates from Blay, 9 km west of Bayeux in
the Calvados region of Normandy in France. It was from here that the earliest
known ancestors, the de BLEZ (Latin BLADIS or BLEDIS) family, are thought to
have come to the Welsh Marches of England
in the service of Adam de Port, baron of Kington, circa 1115. Later, they were
knights in the service of the barony of Radnor, owing allegiance, first to the
de BRAOSE baronial family and later to the MORTIMERs of Wigmore, who inherited
Radnor by marriage to the de BRAOSE heiress (see BREWIS). They left their
geographical mark at Stoke Bliss, Hereford & Worcester, (Grid Ref:SO653628)
which was Stoke de Blez in 1242.
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For
those who abhor the Norman Yoke, a good Saxon origin lies in the nickname BLISSE
(Old English bliđs, gladness or joy) which goes back at least to the
reign of Henry II when “Richard callyd Blisse held 5 acres from Clement of
Parndon (Great and Little Parndon are part of Harlow in Essex, Grid Ref.
TL435085) who gave his land to the Hospitallers”. There is no reason to
believe the Richard was the only cheerful person to be given the nickname, which
explains its widespread occurrence.
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The surname is not confined to Great Britain but is found across northern
Europe. Dutch and German immigrants called BLISS (or BLITZ or BLUZ, becoming
Anglicised to BLISS) are known in South Africa and the USA and there is an
unproven tradition of a Huguenot connection.
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The earliest BLISS reference in the (extended!) North Pennine area is William
BLYS of Seton mentioned in the Muncaster manuscripts of 1394 and there are
continuous references, especially around Penrith, from 1558 to the present.
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Some overlap in 19th C. records has been noted with BLIGH / BLY which
is otherwise unrelated although it comes from the adjectival form of the Old
English bliđs, i.e. bliđe (happy,
blithe).
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(ONS):
bliss@one-name.org There is also an
active BLISS FHS Website with more detailed information at www.Blissfhs.co.uk
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BLOOMER,
BLUMER. An iron worker. The word bloom, for an iron ingot, comes from Old
English blōma. The second spelling and the verbal record led the
family to believe that their ancestor, Luke BLUMER 1757-1840, had come to South
Shields from Switzerland. Sadly, modern research eventually proved that he was
born Luke BLOOMER, son of a blacksmith in Soho, London.
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BLOOMQUIST.
(Swedish?) English Bloom names – e.g. BLOOMER
- refer to Iron ingots, rather than flowers, so, an Ironworker.
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BOAG.
A Scottish name, of uncertain origin. It might be derived from boak or balk,
meaning a ridge or boundary. With various phonetic variants it appears
throughout Scotland from the 16th C. onwards.
William BOAG was a publisher of “broadsides” in Newcastle in the
early 19th Century.
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Our researcher’s BOAG is William, born around 1800, who married Elizabeth
KIRTON in Jarrow in Dec 1819. They
had at least three children, born in North Shields and Elizabeth died in
November 1841.
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BODDY,
BODDIE, BODIE. The name is likely to be derived from the Old English boda,
a messenger and has a long history in both England and Scotland. The first
Scottish occurrence is in Roxburghshire in 1296, while in England the early
instances seem to be in East Anglia.
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BOLLAND. Derivation is probably from the Forest of Bowland, which covers the
border of Yorkshire and Lancashire.
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BOLTON.
Derived from the place-name, of which there are several from which to choose.
The place-name means “village of houses” (bothl + tun) and is thought
to be an early compound word meaning the central village as opposed to outlying
holdings.
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BONE. see BAYNE
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BORROW.
A dweller by the hill or perhaps hill-fort, from Old English beorg or burg.
Our BORROWs are from Haltwhistle where there are plenty of both!
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BOTHEROYD.
From the place in Yorkshire (Map?)
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BOTTOM,
BOTTOMS. A dweller in the bottom of the valley. There are examples in both
Yorkshire and Lancashire in the 13th / 14th C. We
have a BOTTOMS family living in the Middleton in Teesdale area in the 1700's,
with a possible connection with Beverley, East Yorkshire, where Thomas son of
Thomas was baptised on 11 Jul 1768.
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BOUGAY.
There is a set of related names of which this may be a member. They relate to
workers or traders in sheep or lambskin known as bugee or bogey in
the middle ages.
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BOWEN.
From the Welsh – Ab Owein (son of Owen) – appears in England
first in Shropshire, but had reached York by the early 14thC.
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BOWMAKER.
Self explanatory. I wonder of he knew Mr Fletcher?
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BOWMAN. May be taken literally and is an alternative to ARCHER
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BOWNESS. From one of the two place-names: one on the Solway (Grid Ref. 223628)
and one on Windermere. (Grid Ref. 402960)
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BOYNES. There is a place-name, Boyne, in Banffshire, Scotland, which has given
rise to BOYN and BOYNE. The addition of the S might be accidental or it might
mean a different derivation altogether! BOYNEs can be traced back to Staindrop/Raby
(1768), although Raby disappeared as a village around 1800. A burial of John
BOYNES of Langleydale can be found in 1696, but unknown if he was connected.
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BOYS. Either from the French bois, woodland, or more probably from boy
that has held its meanings: youth, servant, rogue, for over 1000 years and been
a surname since the 11th C. Our BOYS family hails from Monk
Hesleden.(Landranger Sheet 93, Grid Ref NZ 455373)
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BRADFORD. Derived from the place-name. The large Yorkshire town is close enough
to be the likely one.
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BRADLEY.
Derived from the place-name. There is a Bradley in Coverdale, Yorkshire. (Grid
Ref:SE032801)
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BRAITHWAITE,
BRAITHWAIT. Derived from the place-name. There are suitable places in Cumbria
and all Ridings of Yorkshire, the place-name being common as it simply means
“broad clearing”.
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BRAMAH, BRAMER, BRAMMER. “Dweller by the broom-covered nook”. The name is
said to have particular associations with Sheffield.
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BRAMWELL.
Not an easy name to pin down! If it is the same as BRAMALL, then it probably
means “dweller by the broom-covered brook”.
The village of Bramham (YWR) was Brumham in 1081 so BRAMWELL may be the
same as BRUMWELL (q.v.). It may be equally the same as BRANWELL, famous enough via the
Brontë family (which demonstrates a Cornish origin, not Pennine!). We have
BRAMWELLs recorded in Garrigill from 1684.
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BRASS.
Not the metal, but a name deriving from the arm (Old French bras)
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BRATT.
A possible alternative spelling of BRETT (q.v.)
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BRAY.
A very Cornish name, so may be a miner in search of work elsewhere. Many of our
North Pennine names have a Cornish connection for this very reason. Bray (Brae)
names also crop up in Scotland and Ireland
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BRECKONS.
Could be from the town of Brechin in Angus. Ours are found around Hexham.
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BREMNER,
BREBNER, etc. A person from Brabant, typically via Scotland, having arrived as
early as 1400 or even earlier. Various craftsmen and traders arrived in
Aberdeen, Dundee and the east coast generally.
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BREO. Could be from an ancient Celtic word for “fiery”. There are legends of
Brigit (Breo-Saighit), “The Flame of Ireland”, who was a Goddess of
the forge and became Christianised as St Brigid. Modern scholars tend to doubt
this, but it’s still a good tale.
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BRETT. Derivative of Briton or Breton. No ancient
occurrences in the Northern Counties or Borders, however. (ONS)
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BREWIS.
This is generally regarded as the English form of BRUCE, q.v., although it does
appear in Scotland, too. An alternative origin is as an abbreviation of
BREWHOUSE (unlikely!) There is also a possibly that it comes from de BRAOSE, a
powerful mediaeval family in the Welsh Marches.
More recently, on 5th June 1841, Isabella BREWIS (daughter of
George BREWIS, a “Cartman”) married Matthew Spearman ROBSON, a Glasshouse
Potmaker, at the (now vanished) Spring Gardens Lane Chapel, Sunderland, in
accordance with the rites of the United Secession Church.
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For the record, a brewis is also an oatcake from Newfoundland; delicious with
fish, I understand!
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(ONS).
brewis@one-name.org (Ms. Dorothy
Harris) See
also
www.brewis.org
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BREWSTER.
A Brewster is a female Brewer, so for the name to have been continued in the
male line, it must have been conferred upon the good lady’s sons. There’s an
outside chance that it could mean embroideress, but which would you prefer?
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BRIGGS. Dweller by the bridge. Very much a North English or Scottish name.
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BRIGHT. An admiring nickname for someone charming or beautiful.
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BROADBENT. Dweller on the broad grassy plain. Robert BROADBENT was a 16C Freeman
of York.
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BROADWOOD. The name means “dweller in or by the broad wood”. The wealthy,
Quaker BROADWOOD family of Hindley Hill, near Allendale Town, were supporters
and patrons of John Wesley. It was from their house he set out at dawn (or
before!) to preach in Nenthead and Alston on 28 July 1748.
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BRODIE.
Originally the name came from the Barony of Brodie in Moray, Scotland but had
spread to Ayr and Edinburgh by the 16th C. Perhaps the most notorious BRODIE was
the Edinburgh deacon whose respectable daytime persona concealed a criminal
night-life and
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Our BRODIEs lived more respectable lives in and around Stamfordham, NBL. ((Landranger
Sheet 88, Grid Ref. NZ080720).
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BROOMFIELD.
Literally Broom-field. There is a Cumbrian place-name, Bromfield, near Aspatria,
which has this meaning, and is mentioned in documents of the 12th C. (ONS)
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BROUGH.
From one of the many place-names. The most likely in our case is the
village (Grid
Ref:NY798146) on
the Stainmore pass. The place-names come from burgh,
meaning an ancient camp. The ruined castle there once belonged to the CLIFFORDs
(q.v.)
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BROWN.
Most likely, and in view of its common application throughout England (and,
indeed Scotland, e.g. Queen Victoria’s friend!) a nickname for hair or
complexion. Lancelot (Capability) BROWN was born at Kirkharle (see HARLE) and
baptised on August 30th 1716. He was educated at nearby Cambo, in the present
village hall, and was first employed by Sir William Loraine.
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BROWNLEE, BROWNLESS, BROWNLEES: A dweller in the brown clearing. The surname
crops up both sides of the Border, but there is no (?) corresponding place-name
in England. There are, however, Brownlee
place-names in Ayr and Lanarkshire.
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BROWNRIGG.
From Brownrigg in Cumberland (Map(??)
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BRUCE. This most famous of Scottish surnames is, in fact, French. The first
Robert de Brus came over with the Conqueror and died probably around 1094; the
rest is Scottish history. For the record, the ruins of the ancestral castle,
Chateau d’Adam, built by Adam de Brus, still exist at Brix, between Cherbourg
and Valognes. See also HALLIDAY.
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BRUMMEL,
BRUMWELL. The accepted derivation seems to be an alternative spelling of
BROWNBILL, which in turn arises from a maker of battle swords of the name! See
also BRAMWELL.. Our BRUMMEL appears on the baptismal register in Middleton in
Teesdale in1785 and as BRUMWELL goes back to 1630 in the IGI.
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BRUNSKILL.
Possibly derived from “brown gil”, that is a ravine or ghyll, from
the Old Norse. Our earliest clear reference is Robert Brunskill of Frith, born
about 1636. Frith lies in the parish of Muker, between Keld and the famous Tan
Hill Inn, where most of the valleys are Gills. No Brown Gill has yet been
identified, but we do have Low Brown Hill (Map Ref NY 890038), and Brownber
Edge and Tarn (848070, 858068) so it seems a likely place name at some time in
history. In more recent times, Joseph BRUNSKILL took Swaledale metal skills to the
USA in 1833 where he started a successful smelting business.
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BRUNT.
Family tradition says this was originally VAN BRUNT so it may have had Dutch or
Flemish origins. However the surname is very common in Derbyshire and
Staffordshire (our researcher’s ancestors were lead miners who came from Elton
in Derbyshire but migrated to the lead mines of Grassington in Wharfedale; the
link may have been ownership by the Dukes of Devonshire). There is a hamlet
named Brund on the River Manifold in Staffordshire Landranger Sheet 119, Grid
Ref SK102612), from which the name may have been taken… or vice versa.
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BRUSTER:
An alternative spelling of BREWSTER.
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BRYDON,
BRYDEN, BRIDEN. A maker of bridles.
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BUCHAN.
This name may be of either Welsh or Scottish origin. If Welsh, then it means
“small” (bychan). If Scottish, then from the place-name near Castle Douglas,
Dumfries. (Grid
Ref:NX760613)
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BUCK.
Most probably a nickname, denoting speed or wildness. In East Anglia, however,
and rather less exciting, it could be “dweller by the beech tree”.
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BUCKTON. Derived from the place-name in either Northumberland (NU
082384) or Yorkshire. The place-name most probably means Bucca’s tun
or possibly a goat-farm, bucca being Old English for he-goat.
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BULL. Either a nickname for a bull-like person, or someone who dwelt “at the
sign of the Bull”.
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BULLERWELL. There is a place-name Bulwell, in Notts., meaning either Bulla’s
Stream or The Bull’s Stream.
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BULMAN, BULLMAN. A bull-keeper. (ONS)
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BULMER.
The name is derived from the place-name, probably NR Yorkshire.
(Grid
Ref:SE697675.
There is another in Essex). It means “The Bull’s Lake”. We have BULMERs in
Bishop Auckland in
the 1700's, where they were agricultural workers/millers.
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BUMFREY,
PUMFREY. Son of Humphrey, deriving from Welsh (ab Humphrey)
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BURDAS, BURDASS, BURDESS, BURDUS. Coming from Bordeaux. A noteworthy York family
listed in Gild’s and Freemen’s Registers.
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BURDON. The experts are confused by this name which has many possible sources
but none obvious. It might be the carrier of a pilgrim’s staff (bourdon
in Old French), or a mule (burdo in
Latin), or an officer of the bedchamber (cf. CHAMBERLAIN), or someone from Great
Burdon (Durham) Burden (near Harewood, Yorkshire) or Burdon Head (Yorkshire). In
a North Pennine context, this last is a probability. (map)
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BURN. A dweller by a stream, not to
be confused with BURNS. (q.v.)
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BURNETT, BURNETTE. A simple anagram gives us brunette, so the name is can be an
alternative to BROWN. Alternatively, burnet
was a dark brown cloth, so a seller or maker of that material could acquire the
surname.
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BURNS. The great Scottish bard actually shortened his name from BURNESS, which
in turn came from the place-name Burnhouse. It is also possible that the surname
can be derived directly from an arsonist! (See also, “Reivers”)
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BUSTON.
This probably means a native of High or Low Buston, near Alnmouth,
Northumberland. (Landranger Sheet
81, Grid
Ref:NU230088)
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BUTCHER.
A straightforward occupational name, which comes from the Old French bochier
or bouchier. The name is recorded back to the 12th C.
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BUXTON.
The easy answer is that it describes someone from the Derbyshire town, whose
name comes from “rocking-stone”. Our
BUXTONs trace their ancestry to Gunnerside in Swaledale.
In the church records there are BUCKSTONE, BUXTON, BUXTIN and several
other derivations. It is possible therefore that the name is from a parallel
source. As Gunnerside is now believed to be derived from " Gunners Sett"
the Norse or Viking for home of Gunner, the family believe that the BUXTON name
in Swaledale may be a derivation of a Viking term.
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BYARS, BYERS. A cow-man, working in the byre, or possibly from Byers Green (Landranger
Sheet 93, Grid Ref. NZ 224340), a place-name deriving from the same source.
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