WELCOME

This site has three primary aims;

1) To provide a vehicle to display the results of my research into various heraldic families and/or places.
2) To provide links to external sites that cover similar research.
3) To record any piece of heraldry that catches my eye.

With regard to heraldic families, my goal is to list only those Arms that can be associated with a named individual(s) or "House". My method is to accept those Arms listed in official sources as stated. Any possible errors in transcription are noted. I have also accepted Fox-Davies' Armorial Families as accurate and where possible have corroborated the details contained therein with reference to other sources. With regard to Burke's General Armory, I have only included those Arms with a named individual or "House" not listed elsewhere. Ideally these are also corroborated by entries listed in the Harleian Society's Grantees of Arms. (The Grantees of Arms does not include the blazon but does generally list the Armiger's name and place of residence.) When it comes to the heraldry associated with certain places, I have recorded the Arms "as is" and attempted to blazon the Arms as seen. Where possible I will match the Arms to those recorded either officially or unofficially.

I cannot claim that the result for any family or place is truly finished because heraldry is dynamic and my research resources, themselves, may well be incomplete. With few exception duly noted, the majority of the blazons listed on this site are in the public domain.

The reference material used:

Official
An Ordinary of Arms, 1903. - Sir James Balfour Paul
An Ordinary of Arms Volume II, 1977. - Lyon Office
An Ordinary of Arms Volume III, 2022. - Lyon Office
The Canadian Heraldic Authority - my thanks to Darrel E. Kennedy, Assiniboine Herald

Semi-Official
Grantees of Arms 1687 to 1898 - Harleian Society
Grantees of Arms to the end of the 17th Century - Harleian Society
Herald's Visitations - Various Counties - Harleian Society

Unofficial
General Armory Burke's
General Armory Two 1973 - Cecil R. Humphery-Smith
Peerage & Baronetage 1881 Burke's
Peerage & Baronetage 107th Edition Burke's
Landed Gentry - Various Editions - Burke's
Armorial Families 1899 - Arthur C. Fox-Davies
Armorial Families 1902 - Arthur C. Fox-Davies
Armorial Families 1929 - Arthur C. Fox-Davies - my thanks to Geoff Kingman-Sugars
The Mitchell Rolls - The Heraldry Society of Scotland

Some of these references are now available online at the Web Archives. A selection of them are listed at Online Heraldic Resources. A separate list of the various publications produced by The Harleian Society can be found here. Those volumes available online have hyperlinks.

Where there is some genealogical details associated with a specific set of Arms, these are noted at The Heraldry Online Blog along with other items or topics of interest..

If your question is "What are my Arms or Crest", I strongly recommend that you read the Society of Genealogists' The Right to Arms leaflet via the link below.

Stephen J F Plowman TD FSA Scot