Coat of Arms & Family Crests Store
Brighty Coat of Arms / Brighty Family CrestThis ancient English surname of BRIGHTY was derived from the Old English word BRIHTWIG, meaning 'bright-war'. The earliest of the name on record appears to be BRICTUI (without surname) who was listed as a tenant in the Domesday Book of 1086, and BRICHWI (without surname) was recorded in County Suffolk in the year 1188. BERDWI FABER was documented in 1192 in County Kent and Osbertus filus BRITWI was recorded in County Essex in 1221. Hereditary surnames were originally imported from France into England during the Norman Conquest of 1066. In the two centuries or so after the Conquest surnames were acquired by most families of major landholders, and many landed families of lesser importance. There appears to have been a constant trickle of migration into Britain between about the years 1200 and 150O, mostly from France and the Low Countries, with a small number of migrants from Scandinavia, Germany, Italy and the Iberian peninsular, and occasional individuals from further afield. During this period groups of aliens settled in this country as for example, the Germans who from the late 15th century onwards settled in Cumbria to work the metal mines. Immigration during this time had only a small effect on the body of surnames used in Britain. In many cases, the surnames of immigrants were thoroughly Anglicised. The late sixteenth century saw the arrival, mostly in London and the south-coast ports of large numbers of people fleeing from the war regions of France. Later instances of the name mention Thomas BRIGHTWY who was recorded in County Sussex in 1327, and Thomas BRIGHTEY of Yorkshire, was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379. In the Middle Ages the Herald (old French herault) was an officer whose duty it was to proclaim war or peace, carry challenges to battle and messages between sovereigns; nowadays war or peace is still proclaimed by the heralds, but their chief duty as court functionaries is to superintend state ceremonies, such as coronations, installations, and to grant arms. Edward III (1327-1377) appointed two heraldic kings-at-arms for south and north, England in 1340. The English College of Heralds was incorporated by Richard III in 1483-84. Over the centuries, most people in Europe have accepted their surname as a fact of life, as irrevocable as an act of God. However much the individual may have liked or disliked the surname, they were stuck with it, and people rarely changed them by personal choice. A more common form of variation was in fact involuntary, when an official change was made, in other words, a clerical error. |
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