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Surprisingly few people
who use a coat of arms and crest today have any actual right to do so.
Armorial bearings do not appertain to all persons of a given surname but
belong to and identify members of one particular family. Coats of arms and
crests are a form of property and may rightfully be used only by the
maleline descendants of the individual to whom they were first granted or
allowed. Such grants were and are made by the appropriate heraldic
authority acting under the sovereign. These authorities are: (for England,
Wales and Northern Ireland) the College of Arms, Queen Victoria Street,
London EC4V 4BT, and (for Scotland) the Lyon Office, New Register House,
Edinburgh EH1 3YT. In the Republic of Eire, the relevant official is the
Chief Herald of Ireland, Genealogical Office, 2 Kildare Street, Dublin 2,
Eire. In order to discover whether an inherited right to arms exists, it
is necessary to trace one’s maleline ancestry back as far as possible and
then to examine the official records of the heraldic authority concerned.
Unfortunately, over the
centuries, many families have simply assumed arms and crests belonging to
other families of the same name, usually without authority and without
demonstrating any relationship between the families. It follows that mere
usage of a coat of arms, even over a long period, does not necessarily
indicate a descent from the family for whom it was first recorded. Indeed,
more often than not, there is no such connection. Even in the days when a
tax was levied on the use of armorial bearings, those paying the tax by no
means always had an established right to arms.
The erroneous and
widespread practice of adopting the arms of a family of the same surname
(extracted in most cases from one of the printed armorials listing the
arms of families alphabetically) is much to be deplored. It detracts from
the basic purpose of coats of arms and crests, which is to provide
hereditary symbols by which particular families may be identified.
Grants of new arms have
been made to worthy applicants, on payment of fees, since the fifteenth
century. The practice continues to this day, and in addition grants of
honorary arms are occasionally made to foreign citizens of British
maleline descent. There is no complete printed list of families granted
arms in England prior to 1687 but an index of many surviving grants from
that early period will be found in Grantees of Arms (Harleian Society,
vol. 66, 1915). For the period 16871898 the great majority of persons to
whom grants of arms were made are listed in Grantees of Arms II (Harleian
Society, vols. 67 & 68, 191617). These do not describe the arms granted.
Records of original grants are kept at the College of Arms, though the
reason for a particular grant and the rationale behind a design of arms
are not normally recorded.
The majority of families
using arms in the period 1530 - 1687 established their heraldic rights at
the Visitations made by heralds from the College of Arms who toured the
country at intervals for that purpose. The office copies of pedigrees
recorded at Visitations are at the College of Arms. Many of them have been
printed, often from unofficial (and sometimes inaccurate) copies in the
Harleian Manuscripts preserved at the British Library. References to
printed pedigrees of Visitation families will be found in G W Marshall,
The Genealogist’s Guide (1903), J B Whitmore, A Genealogical Guide (1953),
and G B Barrow, The Genealogist’s Guide (1977). All three works need to be
consulted. In the years since 1687, many pedigrees have been officially
registered at the College of Arms, sometimes in order to establish a right
to arms by descent and sometimes for purely genealogical interest.
The best known published
armorial is Sir Bernard Burke’s General Armory (last edition 1884), which
lists families in alphabetical order and describes the arms they used. It
is unofficial, incomplete and often inaccurate; though a useful general
guide it should be used with the greatest care. A W Morant’s additions and
corrections to Burke’s list are to be found, edited and augmented by C R
HumpherySmith, in General Armory Two (1973). It may also be instructive to
consult earlier works such as William Berry, Encyclopaedia Heraldica (4
vols. 182840), and the armory in Joseph Edmondson, A Complete Body of
Heraldry (1780), vol. 2. Many families with an established right to arms
in the period 18901929 are detailed in the various editions of A C
FoxDavies, Armorial Families (last edition 1929).
The formal description or
‘blazoning’ of a coat of arms proceeds along certain well defined lines,
and an unknown coat of arms on a signet ring or monument, for example, may
be identified by using an ‘ordinary’, which indexes arms by design and
gives the names of families to whom they have been attributed. The best
known of these is J W Papworth, Ordinary of British Armorials (1874), but
a knowledge of heraldic terminology is needed to consult it, and it is not
in any case a complete index of British coats of arms. Many crests may be
similarly identified from the series of plates in James Fairbairn, Book of
Crests (4th edition, 2 vols. 1905). A more extensive collection of
manuscript volumes at the College of Arms, known as Garter’s Ordinaries,
enables the heralds to check whether any coat of arms or crest is to be
found in their official records. The Dictionary of British Arms Medieval
Ordinary (Vol.1 1992, Vol.2 1996) edited by T Woodcock et al. are the
first volumes of a project to revise Papworth’s Ordinary by concentrating
on previsitation arms recorded prior to 1530, and with the addition of
sources and name index; thus acting as a combined ordinary and armorial.
Mottoes are often
associated with heraldic devices and may provide a useful clue in the
identification of arms. However, there is no monopoly on the use of a
particular motto, and the same motto may therefore be used by many
different families. Numerous mottoes are listed and identified (and
foreign ones translated) in C N Elvin, A Handbook of Mottoes (1860,
revised edition 1971). Indexes of mottoes also appear in the Burke and
Fairbairn volumes mentioned above.
The regulation of
Scottish heraldry differs considerably from the system in England, and all
persons using arms are required to register or ‘matriculate’ their right
to arms in the Court of Lord Lyon King of Arms. No Visitations were made
in Scotland, and the records of grants and matriculations of arms commence
only in 1672. The shields of arms (but not the crests) are all listed for
the period 1672 - 1973 in Sir James Balfour Paul, An Ordinary of Arms
contained in the Public Register of all Arms and Bearings in Scotland (2
vols. 1903 and 1977). The wrongful assumption of arms in Scotland is
punishable by fine and imprisonment.
An Ulster King of Arms
was first appointed in 1552, and records of grants in Ireland exist from
that date. Heraldic jurisdiction over Northern Ireland was transferred to
the College of Arms in 1943, the office of Ulster King of Arms being
joined to that of Norroy King of Arms. In the Republic of Ireland, an
official Genealogical Office was established in Dublin, with the Chief
Herald of Ireland at its head, and his authority is the primary one in
Eire. Photocopies of the old records of Ulster King of Arms are deposited
in the College of Arms, the originals being retained by the Chief Herald.
Those of Scottish and Irish origin living abroad should apply to the
appropriate office for information about grants and registrations. In
Edinburgh and Dublin the records are open for public inspection, and
personal searches can be made.
In England, the College
of Arms is unsupported from public funds and access to its records
(described in A R Wagner, The Records and Collections of the College of
Arms, 1952) is therefore limited. However, the heralds do undertake
searches in the records on payment of professional fees, and if an
enquirer wishes to consult a particular manuscript appropriate
arrangements can be made. Enquiries should be addressed in the first
instance to any individual herald or to the Officer in Waiting, College of
Arms, Queen Victoria Street, London EC4V 4BT. The College of Arms is open
for enquiries between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday to Friday. |
