Braycotton

It is our belief that this name which has no meaning in its modern form is a transposition of the Olde French 'Braconier', a rare job descriptive word introduced by the Normans after 1066, for 'a Keeper of Hounds'. It is possibly a corrupted locational name such as Bracken or even Brecon, but this could only be confirmed by a Genealogical research, our assessments of known records including American Records suggest that the French Job description, anglicized to camaflage the origin, is correct. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Gilbert le Braconer which was dated 1299, The Kings Rolls, London during the reign of King Edward I, 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.