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 Branch Coat of Arms / Branch Family CrestThe surname of BRANCH was a locational name 'of Branch' a spot in County Wiltshire. Local names usually denoted where a man held his land, and indicated where he actually lived. Habitation names are derived from names denoting towns, villages, farmsteads or other named places, which include rivers, houses with signs on them, regions, or whole counties. The original bearer of the name who stayed in his area might be known by the name of his farm, or the locality in the parish; someone who moved to another town might be known by the name of his village; while someone who moved to another county could aquire the name of that county or the region from which he originated. Early records of the name mention BRANCHE (without surname) who was recorded in Wiltshire in the year 1185, and Peter Branchett was documented in County Somerset, during the reign of Edward III (1327-1377). Edward Braunchett of Yorkshire, was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379. Thomas Braunche, who was documented in Lancashire in 1400. John Prince and Mary Branch were married at St. George's Chapel, Mayfair, London in the year 1720. Many factors contributed to the establishment of a surname system. For generations after the Norman Conquest of 1066 a very few dynasts and magnates passed on hereditary surnames, but the main of the population, with a wide choice of first-names out of Celtic, Old English, Norman and Latin, avoided ambiguity without the need for a second name. As society became more stabilized, there was property to leave in wills, the towns and villages grew and the labels that had served to distinguish a handful of folk in a friendly village were not adequate for a teeming slum where perhaps most of the householders were engaged in the same monotonous trade, so not even their occupations could distinguish them, and some first names were gaining a tiresome popularity, especially Thomas after 1170. The hereditary principle in surnames gained currency first in the South, and the poorer folk were slower to apply it. By the 14th century however, most of the population had acquired a second name. The associated arms are recorded in Sir Bernard Burkes General Armory. Ulster King of Arms in 1884.The name is also spelt Braunche and Branche. |
