Welcome to the Bryson Family Web

So, who are the Brysons, exactly?

The family name Bryson is thought to arise from "son of Brice (Bricius)" and may date prior to the Norman invasion of England at Hastings in the year 1066. The earliest record of Bricius is that of the nephew of St. Martin, whom he succeeded as Bishop of Tours in the fifth century.

Different spellings of the name have been found—Brison, Brissen, Brideson—and may even have occurred within the records of a single individual, birth, marriage, death records.

The family name of most Canadian Brysons is understood to have come from the Strathclyde Britons. The original territory of this ancient people ranged from Lancashire in northern England, up to the River Clyde in Scotland. By 100 A.D. they had formed into distinct clans and families. Many Strathclyde families straddled the border between Scotland and England as unified clans, and powers unto themselves.

Following the 1603 union of the Scottish and English monarchies, with James VI of Scotland becoming also James I of England the unruly boarder clans were dispersed throughout England, northern Scotland, Ireland, and to the colonies.

Following the American war of independence, Brysons who remained loyal to Britain moved north and became known as United Empire Loyalists.

The forebearers of the Brysons of Kendall were both born in the parish of Kilroot, Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim, Ireland. Sam Bryson (1823-1879) emigrated first, on his own. He settled at Port Bondhead, near Newcastle, on Lake Ontario. Ann Hoy (1831-1898) arrived with her parents and three siblings about seven years later. Married in 1856, Sam and Ann bore ten children—eight of whom had families of their own—and made their final home in Kendal, Ontario.

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