grant of arms to the Cittie of Raleigh

 
snelson
 
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snelson
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24 March 2012 14:28
 

Quote:

...shown left is the grant of arms to the Cittie of Raleigh [Raleigh, civitas in Virginiae] 1587, the arms of the city above those of John White. Our copy was made after 1660 from William Dethick’s ‘Great Register’, no longer extant…


[img]http://www.queens.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/MS137-199x300.jpg” class=“bbcode_url”]http://www.queens.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/MS137.jpg

 

http://www.queens.ox.ac.uk/library/exhibition/williamson-online-exhibition/

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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Joseph McMillan
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24 March 2012 15:47
 

Thanks to Seb.  Note that this is no relation to the modern city of Raleigh, NC, other than sharing a namesake.  The modern town of Manteo, NC, occupies approximately the same site as the original Raleigh and received a devisal from the College of Arms in 1983, based on the earlier arms:  Argent on a Cross Gules six Lozenges conjoined palewise of the field in dexter chief a Roebuck statant also Gules.  (Blazon quoted from the Oxford Guide to Heraldry.)

 
David Pope
 
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David Pope
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24 March 2012 15:54
 

Does anyone have a link to information on the grants of arms to the eight assistants of John White?

The visitor center at Roanoke used to have banners of each of the arms, but I’ve been unable to locate much information about them.  I remember that most of these seemed to be variations on the theme of argent and gules, with lots of fusils.

 
Michael F. McCartney
 
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Michael F. McCartney
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26 March 2012 15:22
 

David—IIRC the "Oxford Guide to Heraldry" gives at least some of the blazons (don’t have the book with me to quote specifics)

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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26 March 2012 23:03
 

Michael F. McCartney;92973 wrote:

David—IIRC the "Oxford Guide to Heraldry" gives at least some of the blazons (don’t have the book with me to quote specifics)


John White:  Ermine on a canton Gules a fusil Argent (a quarter of augmentation to his existing arms)

Roger Balye:  Gules a cross paty between four fusils Argent.

Dionyse Hartye:  Gules a bear rampant between four fusils Argent.

Roger Pratt:  Ermine on a chief Gules three fusils Argent.

John Nicholes:  Per bend Argent and Gules five fusils counterchanged.

Ananias Dare:  Gules a cross engrailed between four fusils counterchanged.

 

The last of these meaning that the first English child born in North America was armigerous from birth:

http://www.americanheraldry.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1072&stc=1&d=1332817363

 
Guy Power
 
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27 March 2012 12:09
 

Quote:

Ananias Dare: Gules a cross engrailed between four fusils counterchanged.


Is that an accurate quote?  Assuming the cross is argent, what is there to counterchange the fusils?

 

I’m confused [my wife says it’s a perpetual state]

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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27 March 2012 13:12
 

No—make that "a cross engrailed between four fusils argent."

Transposing lines of the OGH with my ancient eyes late last night.

 
Michael F. McCartney
 
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29 March 2012 16:22
 

"Transposing lines ... with my ancient eyes late last night."

—an ancient and honourable tradition amongst heraldic copyists!

 

Are we aware of any contemporary or nearly so emblazonments or actual use of any of these arms, besides the one Seb posted?  If so, I can picture (in my mind) the beginnings of a nice article, with illustrations/photos, similar to Joe’s various articles re: several past Presidents.  May not be THE earliest examples of American heraldry (the Wexford Knight?) but certainly well up there on any list.

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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29 March 2012 16:47
 

Michael F. McCartney;93003 wrote:

"

Are we aware of any contemporary or nearly so emblazonments or actual use of any of these arms, besides the one Seb posted? If so, I can picture (in my mind) the beginnings of a nice article, with illustrations/photos, similar to Joe’s various articles re: several past Presidents. May not be THE earliest examples of American heraldry (the Wexford Knight?) but certainly well up there on any list.


I’m not aware of any early emblazonments.  But now that you mention it, these should be added to our roll of early American arms on the website.

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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29 March 2012 17:23
 

A few more, from the Harleian Society publication Grantees of Arms Named in Docquets and Patents to the End of the Seventeenth Century (published 1915), in the original spelling and wording:

Christopher Cooper:  "A feild gules on a cheueron Argent, A Fuzell gules, betweene three Lyons passant gardant of the second."

 

William Fullwood:  "A Feild Ermin on a Plaine Crosse gules a fuzell Argent & or per pale in a cheefe Azure, three flower de luces of the third."

 

Roger Pratt:  "A Feeld Ermin on a cheefe gules three fuzells Argent."

 

George Howe:  "A feild Argent, a fesse betweene three fuzells, gules."

 

Symon Fardinando:  "A Feild Argent two barres wavee Azure, on a canton gules Three fuzells of the first"

 

Making clear just how personalized grants of arms were in the Tudor period, there are also two blazons in the letters patent with the names of the grantees left blank to be filled in later:

 

.....:  "A feild Ermin on a bend Cotized gules fiue fuzells Argent"

 

.....:  "A Feeld Argent, two barres gules, on a cheffe of the second, fiue fuzells of the first"

 
Michael F. McCartney
 
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29 March 2012 19:39
 

All of these feature fusils, so I assume they were related in some way to Raleigh’s colony?

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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29 March 2012 20:07
 

Yes, I should have made that clear.  These people were the governor (White), deputy governor, and assistant governors of the proposed City of Raleigh, all granted along with the arms of the city itself on a single letters patent.  The original was lost, but the picture Seb posted is of an almost contemporary copy.

 
Guy Power
 
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29 March 2012 21:56
 

Joseph McMillan;93008 wrote:

Yes, I should have made that clear.  These people were the governor (White), deputy governor, and assistant governors of the proposed City of Raleigh, all granted along with the arms of the city itself on a single letters patent.  The original was lost, but the picture Seb posted is of an almost contemporary copy.


I reckon the list can otherwise be dubbed, "The Cittie of Raleigh Fusiliers."

 
Michael F. McCartney
 
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30 March 2012 21:18
 

Or, if there’s a decent Italian restaurant in the area, they could serve The City of Raleigh Fusili

 
davidappleton
 
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davidappleton
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03 April 2012 13:43
 

Michael F. McCartney;93003 wrote:

May not be THE earliest examples of American heraldry (the Wexford Knight?) but certainly well up there on any list.


That would be the Westford Knight (Westford, Massachusetts).  There’s an article, with sources and additional links in the bibliography, about the Westford Knight at http://www.appletonstudios.com/Congress2008DBA.pdf

 

David

 
Michael F. McCartney
 
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03 April 2012 15:15
 

Thanks for the correction, and the link—I’m looking forward to reading it!