Coat of Arms & Family Crests Store
 Broadhurst Coat of Arms / Broadhurst Family CrestThe surname of BROADHURST was a locational name 'from residence at the broad-wood' the dweller nearby. 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 acquire the name of that county or the region from which he originated. Early records of the name mention Roger de Brodhurst, 1281, County Lancashire. Radulpf Brodehurst and Elizabeth Barlowe, were married at Prestbury Church, Cheshire in the year 1566. John Broadhurst of Sandbach, Cheshire, was listed in the Wills at Chester in 1592. Thomas, son of Ralph Broddhurst, was baptised at St. James's, Clerkenwell, London in the year 1683. Surnames before the Norman Conquest of 1066 were rare in England having been brought by the Normans when William the Conqueror invaded the shores. The practice spread to Scotland and Ireland by the 12th century, and in Wales they appeared as late as the 16th century. Most surnames can be traced to one of four sources, locational, from the occupation of the original bearer, nicknames or simply font names based on the first name of the parent being given as the second name to their child. During the Middle Ages, when people were unable to read or write, signs were needed for all visual identification. For several centuries city streets in Britain were filled with signs of all kinds, public houses, tradesmen and even private householders found them necessary. This was an age when there were no numbered houses, and an address was a descriptive phrase that made use of a convenient landmark. At this time, coats of arms came into being, for the practical reason that men went into battle heavily armed and were difficult to recognise. It became the custom for them to adorn their helmets with distinctive crests, and to paint their shields with animals and the like. Coats of arms accompanied the development of surnames, becoming hereditary in the same way. |
