England

Researching English Ancestral Arms

Introduction

According to English heraldists, the right to bear an English coat of arms is restricted to persons who have had arms either granted to them by one of the English kings of arms, or confirmed to them in one of the heraldic visitations conducted between about 1530 and 1689, and to their descendants in the legitimate male line. While some scholars, notably Oswald Barron and J. Horace Round, writing in the early 20th century, questioned this interpretation, it is nevertheless the prevailing view of the English law of arms.

↑ Back to Top

The College of Arms

Official determinations as to whether a particular person lawfully bore an English coat of arms can only be made by the officers of the College of Arms. As stated by the College's website:

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.

Further information may be found at www.college-of-arms.gov.uk. Those interested in following this route should be aware that the fees required for such a search may be substantial.

While many people may feel more comfortable with official verification of their right to use English arms by descent, there is no obligation to obtain such official sanction if a person is able to prove legitimate male line descent from a proven armiger by other means. Probably the best available alternative to approaching an officer of arms is to perform one's own research in the published records of the heraldic visitations and subsequent grants of arms.

↑ Back to Top

The Visitations

Starting in 1530, successive kings and queens issued commissions to the kings of arms, under which they and their assisting heralds and pursuivants were to "visit" the various counties of England, determine who was using coats of arms, and ascertain the users' right to them. The notes of their findings, which necessarily include a good deal of genealogical information, were taken back to London and preserved in the records of the College of Arms. Starting in the mid-19th century, a number of private scholars and antiquarian societies obtained access to these records and published many of the results of the visitations. The best known series is that produced by the Harleian Society. 

To use the visitation records, it is necessary to know the county where one's ancestor lived during the period of the visitations, 1530 to 1689. It cannot be too strongly emphasized that sound research practice requires firstestablishing a proven male line descent from a person living during this period and only then checking the records of the visitations to determine whether he appears there. 

Most of the printed records of the visitations published before the early 1900s are now available on line from Google Books, the UK Genealogy Archives, the website of Professor G. R. Boyton's course on "Governing Feudal England" at the University of Iowa, and various other places. Those we have been able to find are hyperlinked below. Many of the others may be found in the Library of Congress and other large public and university libraries. Note that the published visitation records are based on duplicates, extracts, and other transcripts in libraries and collections rather than on the official copies in the College of Arms. In some cases, the editors have added material from other sources (including blazons from Burke's General Armory), and extended the pedigrees to include later generations.

General Indices and Finding Aids

Bridger, Charles. Index to Printed Pedigrees Contained in County and Local Histories, the Heralds’ Visitations, and in the More Important Genealogical Collections. London: John Russell Smith, 1867. (Google Books)

Humphery-Smith, Cecil R. Armigerous Ancestors: A Catalogue of Sources for the Study of the Visitations of the Heralds in the 16th and 17th Centuries. Canterbury: Family History Books, 1997.

Compilation

Howard, Joseph Jackson, and Frederick Arthur Crisp, eds. Visitation of England and Wales. 14 vols. London, 1896-1919; rpt. Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 1995-98.

 
This collection was compiled from Howard's private genealogical collection and covers the three most recent generations of the families concerned, i.e. from the late 18th century to the late 19th/early 20th century.

Bedfordshire

Harvey, William. The Visitations of Bedfordshire Annis Domini 1566, 1582, and 1634. Ed. Frederic Augustus Blaydes. London: Harleian Society, 1884. (Google Books)

 
Also available on Archive.org

Berkshire

Benolte, Thomas. The Four Visitations of Berkshire, 1532, 1566, 1623, 1665-6. Ed. W. Harry Rylands. London: Harleian Society, 1907. (UK Genealogy Archives)

 
Vol II only available on Google Books and Archive.org.
 
Extracts of the 1566 visitation available from Royal Berkshire History.

Harvey, William. The Visitation of Berkshire in 1566 Ed. Walter C. Metcalfe. Exeter: W. Pollard, 1885. (Google Books)

Ashmole, Elias. The Visitation of Berkshire, 1664-6. Ed. Walter C. Metcalfe. Exeter: W. Pollard, 1882. (Google Books)

Buckinghamshire

Harvey, William. The Visitation of Buckinghamshire, in 1566. Ed. Walter C. Metcalfe. Exeter: W. Pollard, 1883. (Archive.org)

Philipot, John. The Visitation of the County of Buckingham Made in 1634 [includes pedigrees from 1566]. Ed. W. Harry Rylands. London: Harleian Society, 1909. (OpenLibrary.org)

Cambridgeshire

Camden, William. The Visitation of Cambridge Made in Ao 1575 and Ao 1619. Ed. John William Clay. London: Harleian Society, 1897. (Google Books)

Cheshire

Glover, Robert. The Visitation of Cheshire in the Year 1580 [including 1533, 1566, and part of 1591]. Ed. John Paul Rylands. London: Harleian Society, 1882. (Google Books)

 
Also available from the Family History Society of Cheshire. The FHSC also has the 1580 and 1613 data available as zipped Word files. Cheshire Heraldry has transcribed names and blazons with new color emblazonments by Martin Goldstraw.

St. George, Richard. Pedigrees Made at the Visitation of Cheshire, 1613. Ed. George J. Armytage and J. Paul Rylands. London: Harleian Society, 1909. (Cheshire Heraldry; transcribed names and blazons with new color emblazonments by Martin Goldstraw.)

Adams, Arthur. Cheshire Visitation Pedigrees, 1663. London: Whitehead, 1941. (Cheshire Heraldry; transcribed names and blazons with new color emblazonments by Martin Goldstraw.)

Cornwall

Benolte, Thomas. The Visitations of Cornwall Comprising the Heralds’ Visitations of 1530, 1573, and 1620. Ed. J. L. Vivian. Exeter: Pollard, 1887. (UK Genealogy Archives)

St. George, Henry. The Visitation of the County of Cornwall, in the Year 1620. Ed. J. L. Vivian and Henry H. Drake. London: Harleian Society, 1874. (Archive.org)

Cumberland

St. George, Richard. The Visitation of the County of Cumberland in the Year 1615. Ed. John Fetherston. London: Harleian Society, 1872. (Google Books)

Derbyshire

Dugdale, William. The Visitation of Derbyshire Taken in 1662 and Renewed in 1663. London: Golding and Lawrence, 1879. (Google Books)

Devonshire

Vivian, J. L., ed. The Visitations of the County of Devon. Exeter: Eland, 1895. (UK Genealogy Archives)

 
Also available at UK Online.

Colby, Frederic Thomas, ed. The Visitation of the County of Devon in the Year 1564 with Additions from the Earlier Visitation of 1531. Exeter: Pollard, 1881. (UK Genealogy Archives)

St. George, Henry. The Visitation of the County of Devon in the Year 1620. Ed. Frederic Thomas Colby. London: Harleian Society, 1872. (Archive.org)

Dorsetshire

St. George, Henry. The Visitation of Dorsetshire Taken in the Year 1623. Ed. John Paul Rylands. London: Harleian Society, 1885. (UK Genealogy Archives)

 
Also available from Google Books.

Durham (see also Northern Counties)

Flower, William, et al. Pedigrees Recorded at the Visitations of the County Palatine of Durham [1575, 1615, 1666]. London: Joseph Foster, 1887. (Archive.org)

St. George, Richard. The Visitation of the County Palatine of Duresme [1615]. Sunderland: Reed, ca. 1816.

Essex

St. George, Henry. The Visitations of Essex [1552, 1558, 1570, 1612, and 1634]. Ed. Walter C. Metcalfe. London: Harleian Society, 1878) (Google Books)

Bysshe, Edward. A Visitation of the County of Essex [1663-1668]. Ed. Joseph Jackson Howard. London: Mitchell and Hughes, 1888. (Archive.org)

Gloucestershire

Chitting, Henry. The Visitation of the County of Gloucester, Taken in the Year 1623. Ed. John Maclean and W. C. Heane. London: Harleian Society, 1885. (UK Genealogy Archive)

 
Also available from Google Books.

May, Thomas. The Visitation of the County of Gloucester [1682-83]. Ed. T. Fitz-Roy Renwick and W. C. Metcalfe. Exeter: Pollard, 1884.

Hampshire

Benoit, Thomas, et al. Pedigrees from the Visitation of Hampshire [1530, 1575, 1622]. London: Harleian Society, 1913. (Archive.org)

St. George, Henry. Visitation of Hampshire and Isle of Wight, 1686. Ed. G. D. Squibb.

Herefordshire

Siddons, Michael Powell, ed. The Visitation of Herefordshire, 1634. London: Harleian Society, 2002.

Hertfordshire

Cooke, Robert. The Visitations of Hertfordshire [1572 and 1634]. London: Harleian Society, 1886. (UK Genealogy Archives)

Huntingdon

Camden, William. The Visitation of the County of Huntingdon [1613]. Ed. Henry Ellis. London: Camden Society, 1849. (Google Books)

St. George, Henry. The Visitation of the County of Huntingdon, 1684. Ed. J. H. B. Bedells. London: Harleian Society, 1994.

Kent

Philipot, John. The Visitation of Kent Taken in the Years 1619-1621. Ed. Robert Hovenden. London: Harleian Society, 1898.

Philipott, John. The Visitation of the County of Kent, 1619. Ed. J. J. Howard. London: J. E. Taylor, 1863-66.

Bysshe, E. A Visitation of the County of Kent [1663-1668]. Ed. George J. Armytage. London: Harleian Society, 1906.

Lancashire

Benolte, Thomas. The Visitation of Lancashire and a Part of Cheshire, 1533. 2 vols. Ed. William Langton. Manchester: Chetham Society, 1876-82.

Flower, William. The Visitation of the County Palatine of Lancaster, Made in the Year 1567. Ed. F. R. Raines. Manchester: Chetham Society, 1870.

St. George, Richard. The Visitation of the County Palatine of Lancaster, Made in the Year 1613. Ed. F. R. Raines. Manchester, Chetham Society, 1871.

Dugdale, William. The Visitation of the County Palatine of Lancaster, Made in the Year 1664-5. Ed. Francis Robert Raines. Manchester: Chetham Society, 1872-73. (Google Books)

Leicestershire

Camden, William. The Visitation of the County of Leicester in the Year 1619. Ed. John Fetherston. London: Harleian Society, 1870. (Google Books)

Lincolnshire

Cooke, Robert. The Visitation of the County of Lincoln in 1562-4. Ed. Walter C. Metcalfe. London: Bell, 1881.

Lee, Richard. The Visitation of the County of Lincoln, 1592. Ed. Walter C. Metcalfe. London: Bell, 1882.

Bysshe, Edward. The Visitation of the County of Lincoln [1666]. Ed. Everard Green. Horncastle: Lincoln Records Society, 1917. (University of Iowa)

London

Cooke, Robert. The Visitation of London in the Year 1568. Ed. Joseph Jackson Howard and George John Armytage. London: Harleian Society, 1869. (Google Books)

St. George, Henry. The Visitation of London, anno Domini 1633, 1634, and 1635. 2 vols. Ed. Joseph Jackson Howard and Joseph Lemuel Chester. London: Harleian Society, 1880-83. (UK Genealogy Archive)

 
Also available from Google Books.

Whitmore, J. B., and A. W. Hughes Clark. London Visitation Pedigrees, 1664. London: Harleian Society, 1940.

Middlesex (see London)

Norfolk

Hervey, William. The Visitacion of Norffolk [1563 and 1613]. Ed. Walter Rye. London: Harleian Society, 1891. (UK Genealogy Archive)

Harvey, William. The Visitation of Norfolk in the Year 1563. Vol I. Ed. G. H. Dashwood. Norwich: Miller and Leavins, 1878.

Bysshe, Edward. The Visitation of Norfolk, anno Domini 1664. Ed. A. W. Hughes Clark and Arthur Campling. 2 vols. London: Norfolk Record Society, 1934.

Northern Counties

A Visitation of the North of England, circa 1480-1500. Pt. III. Durham: Surtees Society, 1930. (University of Iowa)

Tonge, Thomas. Heraldic Visitation of the Northern Counties [1530]. Ed. W. Hylton Dyer Longstaffe. Durham: Surtees Society, 1863. (Google Books)

Dendy, Frederick Walter, ed. Visitations of the North, Pt. I [1552 and 1558].'' Durham: Surtees Society, 1912. (University of Iowa)

Dendy, Frederick Walter, ed. Visitations of the North, Pt. II [1563-64]. Durham: Surtees Society, 1920. (University of Iowa)

Blair, C. H., ed. Visitations of the North, Pt. IV [1575]. Durham: Surtees Society, 1932. (University of Iowa)

Northamptonshire

Harvey, William. The Visitations of Northamptonshire Made in 1564 and 1618-19. Ed. Walter C. Metcalfe. London: Mitchell and Hughes, 1887. (Google Books)

St. George, Henry. The Visitation of the County of Northampton in the Year 1681. Ed. Henry Isham Longden. London, 1935.

Northumberland (see also Northern Counties)

St. George, Richard. Pedigrees Recorded at the Herald’s Visitations of the County of Northumberland [1615 and 1666]. Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Browne and Browne, 1891.

St. George, Richard. The Visitation of Northumberland in 1615. Ed. George W. Marshall. London, 1878.

Nottinghamshire

Flower, William. The Visitations of the County of Nottingham in the Years 1569 and 1614. Ed. George William Marshall. London: Harleian Society, 1871. (Google Books)

Oxfordshire

Lee, Richard. The Visitations of the County of Oxford Taken in the Years 1566, 1574, and 1634. Ed. William Henry Turner. London: Harleian Society, 1871. (Google Books)

Bysshe, Edward. The Visitation of Oxfordshire, 1669 and 1675. Ed. G. D. Squibb. London: Harleian Society, 1993.

Rutland

Camden, William. The Visitation of the County of Rutland in the Year 1618-19. Ed. George John Armytage. London: Harleian Society, 1870. (Google Books)

Burghill, Francis. The Visitation of the County of Rutland…1681-82. Ed. W. Harry Rylands and W. Bruce Bannerman. London: Harleian Society, 1922.

Shropshire

Treswell, Robert. The Visitation of Shropshire, Taken in the Year 1623. Ed. George Grazebrook and John Paul Rylands. 2 vols. London: Harleian Society, 1889. (Google Books)

Somerset

Cook, Robert. Visitations of the County of Somerset in the Years 1531 and 1573 together with Additional Pedigrees, Chiefly from the Visitation of 1591. Ed. Frederic William Weaver. Exeter: W. Pollard, 1885.

St. George, Henry. The Visitation of the County of Somerset in the Year 1623. Ed. Frederic Thomas Colby. London: Harleian Society, 1876. (UK Genealogy Archive)

 
Also available from Google Books.

Bysshe, Edward. The Visitation of Somerset and the City of Bristol, 1672. Ed. G. D. Squibb. London: Harleian Society, 1992.

Staffordshire

Suffolk

Hervey, William. The Visitation of Suffolk, 1561. Ed. Joan Corder. Harleian Society, 1981-84.

Hervey, William. The Visitation of Suffolke [1561]. Ed. Joseph Jackson Howard. Lowestoft: Tymms, 1871.

 
Volume II only available at Google Books.

Bysshe, Edward. A Visitation of the County of Suffolk [1664-1668]. Ed. William Harry Rylands. London: Mitchell, Hughes and Clarke, 1910.

Surrey

Benolte, Thomas. The Visitations of the County of Surrey Made and Taken in the Years 1530, 1572 and 1623. Ed. W. Bruce Bannerman. London: Harleian Society, 1899. (Google Books)

Armytage, George J., ed. A Visitation of the County of Surrey [1662-1668]. London: Harleian Society, 1910.

Sussex

Benolte, Thomas. The Visitations of the County of Sussex, Made and Taken in the Years 1530 and 1633-4. Ed. W. Bruce Bannerman. London: Harleian Society, 1905. (Google Books)

Bysshe, Edward. The Visitation of Sussex, anno Domini 1662. Ed. A. W. Hughes Clarke. London: Harleian Society, 1937.

Warwickshire

Camden, William. The Visitation of the County of Warwick in the Year 1619. Ed. John Fetherston. London: Harleian Society, 1877. (Google Books)

May, Thomas. The Visitation of the County of Warwick [1682-83]. Ed. W. Harry Rylands. London: Harleian Society, 1911.

Westmorland

Wiltshire

St. George, Henry. The Visitation of Wiltshire 1623. Ed. George W. Marshall. London: G. Bell, 1882. (UK Genealogy Archive)

St. George, Henry. Wiltshire Visitation Pedigrees, 1623. Ed. G. D. Squibb. London: Harleian Society, 1954.

Worcestershire

Phillimore, W. P. W., ed. Visitation of the County of Worcester Made in the Year 1569. London: Harleian Society, 1888. (UK Genealogy Archive)

 
Also available from Google Books.

Butler, A. T., ed. The Visitation of Worcestershire, 1634. London: Harleian Society, 1938.

May, Thomas. The Visitation of the County of Worcester [1682-83]. Ed. Walter C. Metcalfe. Exeter: Pollard, 1883. (Google Books)

Yorkshire (see also Northern Counties)

Flower, William. The Visitation of Yorkshire in the Years 1563 and 1564. Ed. Charles Best Norcliffe. London: Harleian Society, 1881. (Google Books)

 
Also available in PDF form from University of Iowa

Glover, Robert. The Visitation of Yorkshire, Made in the Years 1584/5. Ed. Joseph Foster. London: Joseph Foster, 1875.

Dugdale, William. The Visitation of the County of Yorke [1665-1666]. Ed. Robert Davies. Durham: Surtees Society, 1859. (University of Michigan Library)

↑ Back to Top

Grants of Arms

Unlike Lyon Court in Scotland, the English College of Arms has never published an official record of all grants of armorial bearings. However, the Harleian Society did publish three volumes in 1915-1917, drawing from the College's records and covering grants issued before the end of the 19th century. All these volumes were edited by W. H. Rylands.

  • Grantees of Arms to the End of the Seventeenth Century. London: Harleian Society, 1915.
  • Grantees of Arms Named in Docquets and Patents 1687-1898. 2 vols. London: Harleian Society, 1916-17.

The researchers best bet for locating a more recent grant is to approach the College of Arms directly.  Note that anyone entitled to inherit arms granted since 1900 almost certainly already knows about such arms.

↑ Back to Top

Burke's and Other Unofficial Compilations

Under construction

↑ Back to Top