Coat of Arms & Family Crests Store
 Bratton Coat of Arms / Bratton Family CrestDuring the Middle Ages surnames were first used in order to distinguish between numbers of people bearing the same christian name. As taxation, under William The Conqueror, who invaded England in 1066, became the law, documentation became essential, and names were chosen from a man's trade, his father's name, some personal physical characteristic, or from his place of residence. In the case of the name BRATTON it was a locational name from BRATTON, a chapelry in the parish of Westbury, County Wiltshire, or from a place so called in County Derbyshire. The earliest of the name on record appears to be Godfrey de BRATTON, who was recorded in Wiltshire in the year 1273. Edwin BRATTINE of Yorkshire, was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379. Surnames derived from placenames are divided into two broad categories; topographic names and habitation names. Topographic names are derived from general descriptive references to someone who lived near a physical feature such as an oak tree, a hill, a stream or a church. Habitation names are derived from pre-existing names denoting towns, villages and farmsteads. Other classes of local names include those derived from the names of rivers, individual houses with signs on them, regions and whole countries. The name was in Scotland at an early date and Walter BRATOUN appears in Glenervie in 1558, Andro BRATOUN was a resident in Dumfriesshire in 1574, and Jennet BRATTON and Robert BRATTIN were recorded in 1685. In the Middle Ages heraldry came into use as a practical matter. It originated in the devices used to distinguish the armoured warriors in tournament and war, and was also placed on seals as marks of identity. As far as records show, true heraldry began in the middle of the 12th century, and appeared almost simultaneously in several countries of Western Europe. The lion depicted in the arms is the noblest of all wild beasts which is made to be the emblem of strength and valour, and is on that account the most frequently borne in Coat-Armour. |
