This interesting name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and is a locational surname derived from the village of Bradburne in the county of Derbyshire. It is composed of the Old English elements biad meaning broad or wide, and burna meaning stream. The name is first recorded in its earlier form of Bradeburne in the Domesday Book 1086, and recorded as Bradeburn in the Assize Records of 1281. This surname is particularly well recorded in Derbyshire, and a Coat of Arms was granted to John de Bradburne in the reign of Edward 111 1327 - 1377, consisting of a Silver Shield charged with Three Blue Palets and a Chief, in Red. One Robert Bradborn was christened at St. Lawrence Jewry and St. Mary Magdalene, Milk Street, London on August 15th 1555, while one Richard Bradborne married Elizabeth Warde on February 19th 1565, at St. Giles Cripplegate, London. One, Samuel Bradburn 1751 - 1816, a Methodist preacher and minister was one of the greatest preachers of his day. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Bradborne, which was dated 1540, in the Register of University of Oxford, during the reign of King Henry V111, known as "Good King Hal", 1509 - 1547. 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.