Visitations in England Heraldic visitation

1 visitations in england

1.1 process of visitations
1.2 records
1.3 lists of visitations

1.3.1 southern province
1.3.2 northern province

visitations in england
process of visitations

map showing number of visitations king of arms england s counties, taken burke s landed gentry, 1937 edition.

by fifteenth century, use , abuse of coats of arms becoming widespread in england. 1 of duties conferred on william bruges (or brydges), first garter principal king of arms survey , record armorial bearings , pedigrees of using coats of arms , correct irregularities. officers of arms had made occasional tours of various parts of kingdom enquire armorial matters during fifteenth century, however, not until sixteenth century process began in earnest.

the first provincial visitations carried out under warrant granted henry viii thomas benolt, clarenceux king of arms dated 6 april 1530. commissioned travel throughout province (i.e. south of trent) authority enter homes , churches. upon entering these premises, authorized put down or otherwise deface @ discretion... arms unlawfully used . required enquire using titles of knight, esquire, or gentleman , decided if being lawfully used.

by writ, henry viii compelled sheriffs , mayors of each county or city visited officers of arms give aid , assistance in gathering needed information. when king of arms, or herald, visited county, presence proclaimed presenting king s royal commission local gentry , nobility, required them provide evidence of right use coat of arms. sheriff collect bailiff of each hundred within county list of people using titles or arms.

in days, visiting herald tour homes of gentry , nobility, late 1560s these persons summoned attend central place of sitting – inn – @ particular time. bring arms, , proof of right use them, way of detailing ancestral right them, recorded. official grant of arms had been made, recorded. other ancient arms, many of predated establishment of college of arms, confirmed. officer record information , make detailed notes entered records of college of arms when party returned london.

these volumes make collection of visitation books @ college, contain wealth of information armigerous people period. if officers of arms not presented sufficient proof of right use coat of arms, empowered deface monuments bore these arms , force persons bearing such arms sign disclaimer cease using them. visitations not popular members of landed gentry, required present proof of gentility.

following accession of william iii in 1689, no further commissions carry out visitations commanded. reasons behind cessation of programme have been matter of debate among historians. philip styles, example, related declining willingness of members of gentry attend visitations, traced growing proportion of newly risen families, lacked long pedigrees , therefore apathetic registering them. however, janet verasano has challenged interpretation, finding (in staffordshire, @ least) gentry enthusiasm coats of arms enhancement social standing persisted end of 17th century. end of visitations did not have effect on counties far removed london, of had been visited on entire period of visitations.

there never systematic visitation of wales. there 4 visitations in principality, , on 9 june 1551, fulk ap hywel, lancaster herald of arms in ordinary given commission visit of wales. not carried out, however, degraded , executed counterfeiting seal of clarenceux king of arms. regrettable, since no visitation of wales ever made officers of arms.

records

thomas hawley, clarenceux king of arms, wearing tabard displaying royal arms of england; manuscripts first tour of london earliest existing records of english visitation.

the principal records emerge visitations pedigrees, recorded on loose sheets of paper, , afterwards bound notebooks. in cases, sheets include blank shields had been drawn in advance (or @ later date printed), simplify process of recording coats of arms. persons pedigrees recorded required (from 1570 onwards) certify them signature, , these original draft pedigrees have survived known originals signatures . signed copies taken college of arms, fair copies made higher standard , preserved office copies . signed copies retained @ college, in other cases, no longer considered of official interest, might pass private hands: once in general circulation, further copies made, might in turn revised or augmented. result, number of variant manuscript copies of 1 visitation record may survive, possessing varying degrees of accuracy , authority. harleian collection of british library particularly rich in such records. many visitation records have been published on years, harleian society, county record societies, , few privately (see listing below). however, because until relatively college of arms restricted access records, many of older published editions based on unofficial second- or third-generation copies in other collections, , may therefore not reliable.

from 1530s, officers of arms on visitation compiled known church notes . these fieldnotes (usually in form of sketches) of coats of arms observed on church monuments, in stained glass windows, or on display in private houses. sometimes, drawings made of non-heraldic antiquities, such medieval architectural features, views of towns, roman inscriptions , stonehenge.

the 17th-century visitations generated growing number of supplementary papers, including warrants, lists of persons disclaimed pretence arms, lists of persons summoned appear before heralds (including had not appeared), records of fees paid, , miscellaneous correspondence.

lists of visitations

visitations conducted or in name of 2 provincial kings of arms, clarenceux , norroy, within respective provinces. in following lists, deputies officers of arms carried out visitations. no deputy named, visitation can assumed have been conducted king of arms in person.

southern province

the southern province, jurisdiction of clarenceux king of arms, comprised part of england south of river trent, i.e. counties of bedford, berks, buckingham, cambridge, cornwall, devon, dorset, essex, gloucester, hereford, hertford, huntingdon, kent, leicester, lincoln, middlesex, monmouth, norfolk, northampton, oxford, rutland, salop, somerset, southampton, suffolk, surrey, sussex, warwick, wilton, worcester, , city of london; , south wales.

northern province

the northern province, jurisdiction of norroy king of arms, comprised part of england north of river trent, i.e. counties of chester, cumberland, derby, durham, lancaster, northumberland, nottingham, stafford, westmorland , york; , north wales. trent ran through staffordshire, , county therefore technically divided between 2 provinces; purposes of visitation treated (sometimes through process of deputation) falling under jurisdiction of norroy.