This page contains examples of the types of questions we are frequently asked about heraldry and genealogy, about The Heraldry Store and about Cracroft's Peerage. We hope they will be of interest to you.
This is the most frequently asked question of ourselves and on the rec.heraldry newsgroup.
Firstly, let us get rid of the idea that there is a coat-of-arms for every family name. Despite what the stall in the shopping arcade selling plaques and certificates might tell you, there is no such thing. Indeed, if the person behind the stall tells you that you have bought a copy of "your family coat-of-arms" then they are breaking the law and you should report them to your local Trading Standards Office for fraud.
A coat-of-arms is granted to an individual by the Crown, acting through the Kings of Arms, and can only be used by that individual's legitimate male descendants. There are certain circumstances when the right to this coat-of-arms can pass through females, but these are not very common. You will see that it is possible, and indeed has happened, for two brothers to be granted totally different coats-of-arms, and their descendants, although having the same family name, to have a different coat-of-arms depending on which of the two brothers they descend from.
It has to be said that if you do not already know you are entitled to a coat-of-arms, then it is highly unlikely that you will be entitled to one - despite their social ups and downs, having a right to a coat-of-arms is one of the few things families tend to remember.
This being said, if you do want to try and prove you are entitled to a coat-of-arms, then it is really a genealogical exercise. You have to start with yourself, then back to your father, then back to his father, and so on and so forth until you come to a male line ancestor who was entitled to a coat-of-arms because he was either granted one by the Crown, or he recorded his right to a coat-of-arms at one of the Heralds' Visitations held in the 16th and 17th centuries.
It is illegal in the United Kingdom to bear and use a coat-of-arms to which you are not legally entitled. The law is rarely enforced in England and Wales but in Scotland the Lord Lyon has the powers to destroy any object with an illegal coat-of-arms on it and to impose a substantial fine.
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If you are of English, Welsh or Northern Irish descent, then you should contact the College of Arms in London. You will find the staff there very friendly and very helpful. You should ask to speak to the "Officer-in-Waiting". Each of the pursuivants and heralds take a week in turn where they are the point of contact for any enquiries from the general public. Grants of arms are made by the Kings of Arms, the three senior heralds. They are given authority by the Queen to make grants on her behalf to "eminent men". This phrase is nowadays taken to include any man or woman who is a graduate or who is a member of a recognised professional body or who holds a commission from the Crown as an officer in the Armed Forces, a Justice of the Peace, a Lord Lieutenant, etc. The officer-in-waiting will discuss the process that has to be gone through before a grant can be made and will also raise the question of fees - these are substantial but not onerous, considering that a grant of arms is for you and your descendants for ever.
If you are of Scottish descent, then you should contact the Court of the Lord Lyon in Edinburgh, where you will find the arrangements very broadly similar to those in England. People of Irish descent should contact the Genealogical Office in Dublin. This is part of the National Library of Ireland, and the staff will be more than happy to help you. In recent years Canada has set up its own arrangements for granting arms. The Canadian Heraldic Authority is based in Ottawa. South Africa has its own Heraldic Bureau.
The Earl Marshal, one of the English Great Officers of State, has had supreme authority (outside Scotland and Ireland) in heraldic matters under the Crown for many centuries. He is responsible for the College of Arms and his authority extends to all those countries where Queen Elizabeth is Head of State but there is no local heraldic authority. Consequently the College of Arms acts as the granting body for Australia, New Zealand and all Crown Colonies and Dependent Territories.
The College of Arms in London will also make honorary grants of arms to citizens of the United States of America. As well as being able to show that he or she is a suitable person to be granted arms, the aspiring grantee must be able to show that he or she is descended in the direct and legitimate male line from a subject of the Crown, and must enter in the records of the College a pedigree proving this descent. The College will also make an honorary grant to an American citizen who receives an honour from the British Crown such as honorary membership of the Order of the British Empire or who becomes a member of the Priory of America of the Venerable Order of St John.
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All of the granting bodies make grants of coats of arms to corporate bodies (e.g. towns, cities, counties, schools, universities, professional bodies, commercial companies, etc.) as well as to individuals. In England the oldest known grant of arms was to the Drapers' Company, one of the livery companies of the City of London, in 1439. Over the centuries there have been numerous grants to corporate bodies and despite the introduction of the ubiquitous "logo", interest in heraldry by corporate bodies shows no sign of waning.
Since 1962 the English kings of arms have been empowered to devise, i.e. design and record, arms for towns and corporate bodies in the United States. These devisals of arms are made on the same terms as grants of arms, but before a devisal can be made the consent and approval of the Governor of the State in which the devisal is to be made is always obtained.
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The term "herald" is used in everyday speech to cover the three ranks of officers of arms: kings of arms, herald of arms and pursuivant of arms. These are people appointed by a Sovereign or State to control armorial matters, to arrange and participate in Ceremonies of State, and to conserve and maintain the heraldic and genealogical records entrusted to their care.
In England there are thirteen officers of arms (three kings of arms, six heralds and four pursuivants) who together form the College of Arms. The members of the College are referred to as officers of arms in ordinary. There are also some additional officers, called officers of arms extraordinary, who are appointed for some specific occasion, such as the Coronation, or honoris causa, who are not part of the College.
- Kings of Arms:
- Garter Principal King of Arms (Peter Gwynn-Jones, LVO - apptd. 1995)
- Clarenceux King of Arms (David Chesshyre, FSA - apptd. 1997)
- Norroy and Ulster King of Arms (Thomas Woodcock - apptd. 1997)
- Heralds of Arms in Ordinary:
- Chester Herald of Arms (Timothy Duke, BA - apptd. 1995)
- Lancaster Herald of Arms (Robert Noel - apptd. 1999)
- Richmond Herald of Arms (Patric Dickinson)
- Somerset Herald of Arms
- Windsor Herald of Arms (William Hunt - apptd. 1999)
- York Herald of Arms (Henry Paston-Bedingfeld - apptd. 1993)
- Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary:
- Bluemantle Pursuivant of Arms
- Portcullis Pursuivant of Arms
- Rouge Croix Pursuivant of Arms
- Rouge Dragon Pursuivant of Arms (Clive Cheesman)
- Officers of Arms Extraordinary:
- Arundel Herald Extraordinary (Alan Dickins - apptd. 1998)
- Beaumont Herald Extraordinary (Francis Andrus, LVO - apptd. 1982)
- Fitzalan Pursuivant Extraordinary (Maj Alastair Bruce of Crionaich - apptd. 1998)
- Howard Pursuivant Extraordinary
- Maltravers Herald Extraordinary
- New Zealand Herald Extraordinary (Patrick O'Shea - apptd. 1978)
- Norfolk Herald Extraordinary (George Rankin-Hunt)
- Surrey Herald Extraordinary
- Wales Herald Extraordinary (Michael Powell Siddons)
In Scotland there are ten officer of arms in ordinary (one king of arms, four heralds and five pursuivants and, as in England, a number of additional extraordinary officers:
- King of Arms:
- Lord Lyon King of Arms (Robin O Blair, LVO)
- Heralds of Arms in Ordinary:
- Albany Herald of Arms (John A Spens)
- Marchmont Herald of Arms
- Ross Herald of Arms (Charles J Burnett)
- Rothesay Herald of Arms (Sir Crispin Agnew of Lochnaw, Bt.)
- Pursuivants of Arms in Ordinary:
- Bute Pursuivant of Arms (W David H Sellar)
- Carrick Pursuivant of Arms (Elizabeth A Roads MVO)
- Dingwall Pursuivant of Arms
- Kintyre Pursuivant of Arms
- Unicorn Pursuivant of Arms (Alastair Campbell of Airds)
- Officers of Arms Extraordinary:
- Orkney Herald Extraordinary (Sir Malcolm Innes of Edingight KCVO)
- Falkland Pursuivant Extraordinary
- Linlithgow Pursuivant Extraordinary (K C G George KSG)
- March Pursuivant Extraordinary
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