We haven't yet discovered the beginning of the Browning family. So far it is said that it is an Anglo-Saxon name related to hair, skin, or clothing color of "brun" or brown in French or Olde English. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Hugo Bruning, which was dated 1198, in the "Pipe Rolls of Norfolk", during the reign of King Richard 1, known as "Richard the Lionheart", 1189 - 1199. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax.
Some researchers and historians of heraldry have claimed that the name goes back to the Norman invasions of William the Conqueror. Land was distributed to his followers. One of the earliest names mentioned is Bruning de Cestretona of 1086 in Cornwall. Robertus filius Bruning is listed in Yorkshire in 1203. Agnes Browning of Yorkshire is listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379. [www.4crests.com]
Source used by Family Tree Search:
Will of John Smith of North Nibley,
Gloucestershire.
Collection: Records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury Date range: 16 November 1641 - 16 November 1641
Reference: PROB 11/187/354
Subjects: Wills and probate
Collection: Records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury Date range: 16 November 1641 - 16 November 1641
Reference: PROB 11/187/354
Subjects: Wills and probate
"Gloucester Cathedral" engraved
by B.Winkles after a picture by W.Warren, published in Winkle's Cathedrals
..., London, 1836. Steel engraved print with recent hand colour. Size
14 x 12.5 cms including title, plus margins. Ref E6097
I have no other information on this family at this time. The lists are based on the research of others. The Browning family members were residents in the Gloucestershire region before 1335 and had been major businessmen, land owners, sheriffs, members of parliament and hosts to various noblemen over the years. The name may be spelled as Bruning, Brunyn, Brounyng as well as Browning.
The building of the Gloucester Cathedral overlaps with this family. The foundation was laid in 1089 by Abbot Serlo with the fan vaulting in the cloisters invented here in 1350. King Edward II is buried here in the abbey in about 1242 which turned it into a pilgrimage site.
