Braddock

This interesting surname is of topographical origin for someone living by a notable broad oak, deriving from the Old English pre 7th Century "brad" meaning broad plus "ac" oak. It is also possible that the surname is of English locational origin from some minor place thus called. The only modern village with this name is Braddock in Cornwall, recorded as "Brodehoc" in the Domesday Book of 1086, and later as Brethok and Brothok, but this is unlikely to be the source of the surname. The surname is first recorded in the latter half of the 13th Century, (see below). Thomas del Brodok, appears as a witness in the Assize court Rolls of Staffordshire (1282) and Thomas Broddock, is noted in the "Nonarum inquisitones" of Essex (1341). On May 25th 1582, Constance Braddock married Francis Penn, in London. One of the earliest settlers in the New World was Nathan Braddock, aged 31 yrs, who departed from the port of London, aboard the "Merchant's Hope" bound for virginia, in July 1635. A coat of arms granted to the Braddock family depicts a sliver engrailed bend on a black field, in the top left corner there is a gold eagle displayed. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Geoffrey Bradhok, which was dated 1275, in the Hundred Rolls of Kent, 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.