Until recently, my first recorded instance of the name BREADMORE (spelt in exactly that way) was the marriage of Roger BREADMORE to Elizabeth FISHER on 15 October 1716 in Potterne, Wiltshire, England. However, it is also recorded as being BREDMORE (without the A). The spelling is next to be seen on the will of Thomas BREADMORE from Marston Potterne, Wiltshire, England in 1723. I have now discovered, a Francis BREADMORE was buried in Chitterne, Wiltshire in 1654.

A Thomas BREDMOR was buried in January 1656 at Abbotts Ann, Hampshire and a Thomas BREADMOR was buried in the same parish in 1680.

The earliest records I have are for Ælfger de BRADMERE from around 1095 in Suffolk, England. This is listed in the Feudal Documents from the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds (D A Douglas, 1932) and quoted in the book A Dictionary of English Surnames (P H Reaney & R M Wilson, 1995).

Aluredus de BRADEMORE appears in Warwickshire, England in 1185 in Records of the Templars in England in the 12th Century (B A Lees, 1935) and is also listed in A Dictionary of English Surnames.

However, I can find no connection with either of these names (de BRADMERE and de BRADMORE) and the present day families. Nor can I find any evidence that the BREADMORE name originated in either Suffolk or Warwickshire.

The International Genealogical Index (IGI) lists nine entries for a BRIDMORE family between 1455 and 1483 in Tisbury, Wiltshire, England. The English family of MAYHEW of Martha's Vineyard, USA, are descended from Joan BRIDMORE of Tisbury and her husband, Robert MAYHEW.

The 16th century bears nine entries in Wiltshire and one in Totnes, Devon, England. One of the earliest recorded marriages is that of Thomas BRIDMORE and Susan ELMES at East Knoyle, Wiltshire in 1593.

Andrew Young - andrew@breadmore.org - © Margaret and Andrew Young
Breadmore One-Name Study - First Instances of the Name - http://www.breadmore.org/