Brome

This name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is either a locational or a topographical surname. If the former, it derives from any one of the various places called Broom (in Bedfordshire, Durham and Worcestershire), Broome (in Norfolk, Shropshire and Warwickshire), and Brome, in Suffolk. Most of the places are recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Brume" or "Brom" and all share the same meaning and derivation from the Old English pre 7th Century word "brom", meaning (place of) broom or gorse. As a topographical surname Broome, Broom or Brome denotes residence near a place where broom grew. Roger Broome was an early emigrant to the New World, leaving London on the "Truelove" in September 1635 bound for New England. The christening of Thomas Broom was recorded at All Hallows, Honey Lane, London, on January 22nd 1618. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert de Brome, which was dated 1193, in the Pipe Rolls of Leicestershire, during the reign of King Richard 1, known as "The Lionheart, 1189 - 1199". 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.