Bradbury

English

Etymology 1

From Old English brād (“broad”) + byriġ, the dative case of burg (“fortified place”).

Proper noun

Bradbury (countable and uncountable, plural Bradburys)

1. (uncountable) A placename:
   1. A village in Bradbury and the Isle parish, County Durham, England (OS grid ref NZ3128).
   2. A city in Los Angeles County, California, United States.
   3. A township in Mille Lacs County, Minnesota, United States.
   4. A suburb in the City of Campbelltown, New South Wales, Australia.
2. A habitational surname from Old English.

Derived terms

• Bradbury Landing

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Bradbury is the 4343^rd most common surname in the United States, belonging to 8172 individuals. Bradbury is most common among White (93.26%) individuals.

Etymology 2

So named as banknotes had the signature of Sir John Bradbury, secretary to the Treasury c.1914.

Noun

Bradbury (plural Bradburys)

1. (UK, slang) A British banknote issued during WW I in denominations of £1 or 10 shillings.
   • 1920, Sapper, Bulldog Drummond‎^[1]:

     "And the contents of my cigarette-case are half a dozen gaspers, and a ten-bob Bradbury patched together with stamp paper!"

   • 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:

     "Well, the price of a drink will do as well. If you've got a Bradbury about you I could do with it, for there's nothing coming my way." Tom Linden took a pound note from his desk.

Related terms

• do a Bradbury

Further reading

• Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Bradbury”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 1, New York City: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 212.