| Genealogy Home | | | BRYER ONS | | | RAMPTON ONS | | | My Family | | | Research Links | | | Search | | | Contact |
According to Reaney & Wilson's A Dictionary of English Surnames (3rd ed 1991), the earliest occurrence of the BRYER/BRIER name is that of John in le Breres in 1279. The translation Dweller among the Brambles is given. The dictionary further takes the derivation of the name back to Old English, where the word braer meant a prickly thornbush.
The list of knights loyal to King John at the time of the signing of Magna Carta (1215) shows Fulke de Briwere, which may equate to the modern Bryere or Bryer.
The name can be found in many forms, both singular and plural. These are just some of the variations I have identified for the purposes of my One-Name Study:
| Brear | Breare | Brairs | Brears |
| Breer | Breere | Breers | Brears |
| Breir | Brere | Breirs | Breres |
| Breyer | Briar | Breyers | Briairs |
| Briare | Briear | Briaris | Briariss |
| Brier | Briere | Briars | Briears |
| Brior | Brire | Brieres | Briers |
| Briyer | Bryar | Brires | Broers |
| Bryare | Bryer | Bryares | Bryars |
| Bryor | Bryeres | Bryers | |
| Bryres | Bryrs |
Many of these spellings exist in only one or two instances, and probably result from mis-transcription; some are of European origin (Briere would appear to be a French form of the name, and Breyer probably derives from German or Polish).
Brear Breare Breer Breere Breir Brere Breyer Briar Briare Briear Brier Briere Brior Brire Briyer Bryar Bryare Bryer Bryor
Breirs Breres Breyers Briairs Briaris Briariss Briars Briears Brieres Briers Brires Broers Bryares Bryars Bryeres Bryers Bryres Bryrs Breers Brears
I propose to concentrate on the singular variations in this study, and treat the plural variations more sketchily, purely because of the amount of data involved.
The research is presented as a series of interlinked family charts, listing for each Bryer or Brier spouses, children, addresses where known, and linking to transcribed family units as represented on the various censuses. The material is presented as clearly as possible, although inevitably, where a large family is represented, the chart may appear rather cramped.
In addition to the descriptive charts, there are a number of more traditional box charts (which are also linked to the family charts). These show graphically how a family spreads and contracts, and also indicates the handing down of a skill or occupation to successive branches and generations within a single family.
Distribution maps of the BRYER variant and the BRIER variant offer fascinating insight into the distribution of the name. So far, only 1881 has been documented fully, but other census years will be covered when it is possible to extract information for the whole country, and recent electoral roll data has yielded interesting results which will be published in due course.