‘Heraldry is the fusion of fact and fancy, myth and manner, romance and reality. It is an exuberant union of family, art, and history ’ (Charles J. Burnett and Mark D. Dennis, The Lion Rejoicing, 1997)
Before writing this article, I began to list the many ways in which knowledge of heraldry can bring benefit to genealogical research. My vivid imagination immediately transported me to a famous scene in Monty Python’s film The Life of Brian, when a group of disenchanted citizens, led by the incongruously named ‘Reg’, debate the contribution made by the
Romans to civilisation. The list of innovations starts small, but ultimately extends to sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system and public health.
And so it is with heraldry and all that is has to offer genealogists. It’s not solely limited to charting the lives of the well-heeled, as many armigers (those legitimately entitled to bear arms) came from humble beginnings and both parties to a marriage were not always armigerous. Likewise, the ‘laws of heraldry’ still preclude a high proportion of females from passing on their paternal arms, as a consequence of which an historic right to bear arms may have been lost on the path of descent.
This has been borne out repeatedly in research undertaken for third parties, when, without any prior expectation, I’ve hit upon a rich seam of armigerous forebears, evidenced in a wide range of published resources. By way of example, I’ll cite a very recent experience when, tasked with researching the naval career of a client’s grandfather, I discovered much earlier links with an ancient and armigerous Kent family.
‘No knowledge is useless, with the exception of heraldry’ (Samuel Johnson)
While it won’t surprise you to learn that I disagree with Dr Johnson’s sentiments, I’m the first to admit that
