This apparently English name is something of a puzzle. It would seem to be first recorded in Cheshire in the late 18th Century which is some five hundred years after the surname period. This suggest that the present spelling is either from a now "lost" location of which there are over some seven thousand in the United Kingdom, or it is a variant of (for instance) Brongest, a village in Cordigan, or perhaps an anglicization of a Huguenot name such as Bronsfeld or Bronsart. William Brownsett married Margaret Lunt at Manchester Cathedral on the 19th March 1823, whilst Ann Brownsott was also married at Manchester Cathedral on 27th August 1826. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Sarah Brownsett. which was dated 1794, married George Yarwood at Swettenham, Cheshire. during the reign of King George III Farmer George, 1760 - 1820. 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.