This name is of English locational origin from Brierley in Staffordshire or Brierly in West and South Yorkshire. The name, in all cases, derives from the Olde English pre 7th Century "broer" meaning "briar" plus "leah", a clearing. The surname from the former source is first recorded in the mid 13th Century, (see below). In 1275, one, Roger de Brerley appears in "The Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield", Yorkshire. In the "modern" idiom, the name has three spelling variations:- Brierley, Brierly and Brearley. On July 11th 1669, Susanna Brierley, daughter of Jacobi Brierley, was christened at St. Peter's Cathedral, Sheffield, Yorkshire and on March 26th 1770, Sarah Brierley and Stephen Parker were married in the above Cathedral. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ivetta de (of) Brerelay, witness. which was dated 1248, in the "Assize Court Rolls of Staffordshire". during the reign of King Henry 111, known as the Frenchman, 1216 - 1272. 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.

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