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One-Name Study for all

BRADNER  Families

Name Listings Join the Bradner Group DNA Study

Welcome to the One-Name Study web pages for all BRADNER families and other individuals in my family tree.

First, I'll introduce myself.  My name is Bernie Bradner and I live in Canada.  I am retired from purchasing and materials' management in the aerospace industry.  Currently I'm spending lots of time doing those things for which I previously never had time (and still don't).  My interests are traveling, our local seniors' centre, the Halton-Peel Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society, and of course, genealogy.  I've been tracing my family's roots in my spare time since early 1990 and this has helped to keep me out of trouble.  Now I realize that doesn't tell you much about me, but what were you expecting – a full biography!?

The origin of BRADNER names is somewhat conflicting.  BRADNERs seem to have first appeared in Great Britain and Ireland.  The earliest Bradner I've found was christened Elizabetha BRADNER in Yorkshire England in 1573.  She was the daughter of Hugonis BRADNER.  On the other side of the Irish Sea, O'Hart's publication, "Irish Pedigrees" states that the Gaelic surname O'Brudair has been anglicised as Broder, Brodrick, Brother and Bradner.  The ancient surname O'Brudair's (Bruidair) was from the family of O'Ryan of Idrone, County Carlow, Ireland.  I have not found the name Bradner recorded in County Carlow but we know for certain that Bradners lived in County Wicklow, Ireland from the mid-1600s.  Bradners are later found in small numbers in County Armagh, Ireland.  I expect they are likely an off-shoot of early Bradners also found in Scotland about the same time.

Many of the Bradners living in the USA today are the prodigy of Reverend John BRADNER born about 1690 and Christian COLVILLE.  Reverend John Bradner graduated from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, on April 12, 1712 with a Master of Arts degree.  Shortly after graduation, he was accepted into the household of Rev. Alexander COLVILLE of Dromore, County Down, Ireland.  He was hired as a religious tutor for the two Colville children, one of which was Christian and soon to be his wife.  In the same year, Rev. John and Christian eloped and came to America in late-1712.  Almost on arrival Rev. John was invited to preach at Cold Springs Presbyterian Church, Cape May, New Jersey.  He was officially ordained in 1715 and remained there until 1721.  He left Cold Springs to take up a ministerial position at Goshem, New York, where he remained until his death in 1732.  John and Christian had four boys and four girls which did much to establish many of today's American Bradners.

One of Reverend John Bradner's first-cousins, yet another named John Bradner, has descendants that left Ireland for greener pastures (if you can believe that) and emigrated to England and Canada.  Much of the emigration took place as a result of the "Potato Famine" in the mid-1800s.

The best I have done with researching my own Bradner line is to take them back to a Joseph BRADNER born about 1820 in County Wicklow, Ireland.  In the other direction, three of my grandfather's siblings still remain a mystery and prompted me to embark on this One-Name Study ever hoping to find them through a wider search.  If anyone has information on Thomas Henry BRADNER born November 26, 1883 in Cheltenham, England who married Edith YEATES born in 1885 in the same place, I would love to hear from you.  They were last known to have lived in Los Angeles, California in 1928 and dropped out of sight.  Thomas' brother William BRADNER born January 19, 1877 was last living in Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada in 1828.  Lastly a sister, Charlotte (Lottie) BRADNER, born 1871 was last living in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1928 and she married Stephen E. STEVENS.  She may have also reverted back to her previous married name of Mrs. George GOULD.  Another branch of this tree established the Bradner name in Australia.

There are large pockets of early Bradners in Virginia and North and South Carolina who trace their families back to John BRADNER and Elizabeth CARR.  John BRADNER died in 1812 in Halifax, Virginia and it was originally thought that he was a descendant of Reverend John and Christian.  However, this connection is now in dispute after finding earlier stray Bradners living in the south that can't be tied into Reverend John's family.  There is a possibility they are of Scottish origin.  Hopefully a male Bradner from this line will take a DNA test and answer this question once and for all.

Strangely, there were apparently also Bradners living in Bavaria, Germany in the early 1700s and a number of them emigrated to the USA in the 1800s.

The Family Tree pages linked to this page are a compilation of the work of many researchers documenting their ancestry.  I am especially grateful to Frank BRADNER of Ocala, Florida and the late Beulah SCHROEDER for their more than thirty years of research and publication of a major genealogy on Rev. John BRADNER's descendants.  Chuck BRADNER of Virginia has done an equally impressive job on his Virginia ancestry which I have incorporated into these web pages.  We hope you will benefit from this information and will share your findings with us.  All information about living individuals is kept in the strictest confidence.

The Bradner Family Tree pages — Start with the Surnames page and click through to pages for each individual.

Credits — persons who have contributed to this One-Name Study.

Please send us an E-mail if you have any information about BRADNER family members of any era, or wish to discuss any of these individuals or their relatives.  Address snail mail to:  21 Chelvin Drive, Georgetown, ON, Canada  L7G 4P8.

Go to the BRADNER message board – ask questions, etc.
Subscribe (free) to the BRADNER Mailing List and join with others in discussing and researching the BRADNER families.
Browse the BRADNER Mailing List archives.
Search the archives of all Mailing Lists or limit your search to only the BRADNER list.
View Frank Bradner's web pages of descendants of Rev. John Bradner & Christian Colville.
View Frank Bradner's web pages of other Bradners.

Get a really good, free, genealogy program (actually, I believe it's the best.  The Standard Edition is completely free.
       Download Legacy Here

Please visit Bernie Bradner's personal web page.

If you find something in my pages that doesn't look right or if you have (polite) suggestions please send me an E-mail.