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9. Proving a right to arms by descent, and genealogical research |
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| Armorial bearings are hereditary. They can be borne
and used by all the descendants in the legitimate male line of the
person to whom they were originally granted or confirmed. To establish a
right to arms by inheritance it is necessary to prove a descent from an
ancestor who is already recorded as entitled to arms in the registers of
the College of Arms. The first step in establishing whether there might be a possibility of having a right to arms by descent is to approach the officer in waiting at the College of Arms with what details one has of one's paternal ancestry. He will then be able to advise on the cost of having a search made in the official records for coats of arms recorded for families of one's name. The search may show that no family of the name has possessed arms or that one or more have done so. If the latter, and no known ancestor of the enquirer has been found on official record, the next stage will be genealogical research in records outside the College. This would be undertaken to extend the enquirer's pedigree to see if a connection with an armigerous family could be found. |
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Pedigree and arms of Montague of Boveney entered
at the heralds' visitation of Buckinghamshire of 1634. |
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| Heralds have been genealogists since the fifteenth
century. The hereditary nature of arms encouraged them to develop
scientific genealogical methods at an early date. Sir William Dugdale
(d. 1686), Garter King of Arms, was one of the greatest pioneers of
modern genealogical research in England. Officers of arms conduct
genealogical research, primarily within the British Isles, into families
of all social strata. Sometimes the purpose of the research is to see if
a right to arms by descent can be established, but more often the
inspiration behind the commission is simple genealogical curiosity and
the client is not hoping or expecting to find armigerous ancestors. The heralds have the advantage over other genealogists not only of access to the unique records and collections of the College of Arms, accrued over five centuries, but also of being part of a continuing tradition of expertise and technique. |
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