This interesting surname is of English locational origin from a place so called in Northamptonshire, recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Brachelai" and as "Brackelea" in the 1173 Pipe Rolls. The placename derives from the Old English pre 7th Century personal name "Bracca" or "Breahha" plus "leah" a clearing in a wood. The surname is first recorded in the latter half of the 13th Century, (see below). One, william de Brackely, is noted in the Hundred Rolls of London (1273). The surname is also found with variant spelling Brackly. On September 15th 1588, Ann, daughter of Thomas Brackley, was christened at St. Dionis Backchurch, London. The marriage of Margaret Brackley and Edmund Smithier took place on February 15th 1590, at St. Dunstan, Stepney. William Brackley married Agnes Robinson on June 25th 1592, at St. James Clerkenwell, London. One of the earliest settlers in the New World was, Mary Brackley, aged 20, who departed from the port of London, aboard the "Globe", bound for Virginia, in August 1635. A coat of arms granted to the Brackley family depicts three gold mullets on a blue bend, itself on an ermine and red chequered shield. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Mikael de Brackele, which was dated 1273, Hundred Rolls of London, during the reign of King Edward 1, "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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.