DOCUMENTARY SOURCES

CONTENTS OF THIS PAGE

INTRODUCTORY NOTE ON SOURCES

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED

DETAILS OF REFERENCES TO SOURCES

INTRODUCTORY NOTE ON SOURCES

Family Historians and Genealogists, through experience, reluctantly accept that sometimes "facts" cannot be proven beyond reasonable doubt, especially if the events concerned occurred centuries ago. And the same is true to a certain extent in Heraldry.

Unfortunately, heraldic researchers cannot examine the original sources, since the original grants of arms are held at the Royal College of Heralds. They can only apply for a search to be made and a copy of the details to be provided (a comparatively expensive exercise).

So, in practice, most research instead secondary evidence, in the form of printed transcripts of the "herald's visitations". These are "Pedigrees of people who had a right to Arms, collected by the officers of the College of Arms between 1530 and 1687, and printed from their records or from early "improved" copies of them"[S1]. The transcripts are often referred to collectively as the Harleian Society volumes, in which they are to be found.

All other reference sources are generally tertiary, or third-hand, evidence, being based or extracted from the various records of Visitations and other sources. The accuracy of their scholarship varies from
A. "Fairbairn's Crests"[S4][S5], called "The most complete list of crests"[S7].
B. Various county genealogies published in the first half of the 1800's (such as Berry's County Genealogies whose Hampshire volume was published in 1833), which misrepresent some facts and relationships.
C. "Burke's General Armory"[S2][S3] which has been described as "Unofficial, often inaccurate and incomplete"[S7].

The different books disagree between each other in some of the details, whilst sometimes details differ between different editions of the same books, or between the original and the revised editions of a book. In most cases, the difference lies in the terminology used in the descriptions, but sometimes the details of the heraldic charges themselves differ.

Where editions of the same book differ, the editions referred to are both included in the accompanying page on Documentary Sources. And, in the descriptions of the individual arms and crests, differences in terminology are noted within the same description but differences in the heraldic charges are described separately (as with the Crest for "RIGGS or RYGGES, of LINCOLNSHIRE").

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS USED

TYPES OF SOURCES:

Harl Soc = Harleian Society collection, primarily of Heralds' Visitations,
pub as a series of separate volumes

mfc = microfiche;

MS = manuscript (MSS = manuscripts);

SoG = Society of Genealogists

LOCATIONS OF SOURCES:

NOTE: "An Heraldic Alphabet"[S1] is available through UK lending libraries. The main reference works quoted, or at least the later editions[S3][S5] should be available at:

Ref Lib = Central Reference libraries in the larger UK towns and cities.

SoG Lib = SoG Library, 14 Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Rd, London EC1M 7BA

OTHER ABBREVIATIONS:

cat = catalogue;

comp = compiled by:

edit = edition;

fo = folio;

Inc = Incorporated;

info = information;

Lib = Library;

orig = originally;

p = page (pp = pages);

pub = published;

ref = reference;

repr = reprinted;

rev = revisions;

vol = Volume

DETAILS OF REFERENCES TO SOURCES

Please see the above Introductory Note On Sources, which
refers to discrepancies between the various reference books,
and also even between different editions of the same book.

S1 An Heraldic Alphabet, by J.P.Brook-Little, Norrey and Ulster King of Arms, orig pub Macdonald & Co. 1973, repr Robson Books Ltd London 1985 (written by one of the three chief heralds).

S2 Encyclopaedia of Heraldry, or General Armory of England, Scotland and Ireland, by John Burke and John Bernard Burke, pub Henry G.John, Covent Garden, London 1844, - copy examined in Ref Lib. "Unofficial, often inaccurate and incomplete, this describes the arms attributed to most British families." [S7].
Some differences in details compared with modern editions [S3].

S3 The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, by Sir Bernard Burke, Ulster King of Arms, orig pub London 1842, repr facsimile edit 1989 Heraldry Today, Ramsbury, Wiltshire - copy examined in Ref Lib. "Unofficial, often inaccurate and incomplete, this describes the arms attributed to most British families." [S7].
Some differences in details compared with original editions [S2].

S4 Fairbairn's Book of Crests of the Families of Great Britain and Ireland, by James Fairbairn, 4th ed pub 1905 T.C.&G.C.Jack of London & Edinburgh - copy examined in Ref Lib. "The most complete list of crests" [S7].
Some differences in details compared with modern editions [S5].

S5 Fairbairn's Crests of the Families of Great Britain and Ireland, by James Fairbairn, rev by Laurence Buttons and pub Charles E.Tuttle Co.Inc.Rutland, Vermont, USA, first Tuttle edit 1968 - copy examined in Ref Lib. "The most complete list of crests" [S7].
Some differences in details compared with original editions [S4].

S6 Armorial Families, A Directory of Gentlemen of Coat-Armour, by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, 7th edit pub 1929 Hurst & Blackwell Ltd, London, orig pub 1902 by T.C.&E.C.Jack of Edinburgh - copy examined in Ref Lib. "Details of some later families who used arms may be found in the various editions." [S7].

S7 Using the Library of the SoG, leaflet pub SoG, London 1992.

S8 p 49 of An Introduction to Heraldry, by Stefan Oliver, pub Apple Press Ltd, Baldock, Herts 1987- copy examined in Ref Lib.

S9 The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English, 7th edit pub Clarendon Press 1982.

S10 p 821 of Lincolnshire Pedigrees, Harl Soc Vol 52 (ref Harl MS 1550) - copy examined in SOG Lib.

S11 p 154 of Visitations Hants 1622, Harl Soc Vol 64 (ref Harl MS 1554 fo 135b-137) - copy examined in SOG Lib.

S12 p 93 of Visitations Sussex 1622, Harl Soc Vol 89 - copy examined in SOG Lib.

S13 p 65 of Visitations London 1568, Harl Soc Vol 1 (pub London 1869) - copy examined in SOG Lib.

S14 Ref:Add.35,336 p.145,Coll.gr.Vol I of 419 in Holworthy Armorial Collection, comp A.J.Jewers on mfc - SoG Lib Special Collections Cat.

S15 Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, by Sir Bernard Burke, Ulster King of Arms 1853-92, 17th ed pub 1952 Burke's Peerage Ltd, London.

S16 List of Common Mottoes page on Coat of Arms Store web-site viewable on-line at http://shop.store.yahoo.com/4crests/lisofcommot.html

S17 The Court of the Lord Lyon web-site viewable on-line at www.lyon-court.com/lordlyon/

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This page was last updated: 1st January 2007