Brasseur

This interesting name, with variant spellings Brasher, Brashier, Bra(i)zier and Brazer, derives from the Old English pre 7th Century "Broesian" or "Brasian" meaning "to cast in brass" and was originally given as an occupational name to a worker in brass. The surname is first recorded in the latter half of the 13th Century, (see below). One, William Brasier appears in the 1327 "Subsidy Rolls of Essex" and a Thomas Brasyer in the 1381 "Assize Court Rolls of Cambridgeshire". The -er suffix attached to the name comes from the Old English -ere meaning "one who does or works with (something)". One Isacke Brazier was christened at St. Andrew's, Holborn, in London, on July 25th 1622, and the marriage of Thomas Brazier and Elizabeth Manrice was recorded at St. James's, Duke's Place, London, on May 21st 1688. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard le Brazur, which was dated 1273, in the "Hundred Rolls of Shropshire", during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "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.