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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. |
